5 Ways to Save Energy with a Smart Thermostat

Your home’s smart thermostat doesn’t only manage home temperatures. It’s a tool you can use to control and monitor your home’s energy use. And with heating and cooling accounting for about half of an average home’s energy usage, according to the Department of Energy, making sure that your HVAC system is working efficiently can come with big cost savings.

Using a smart thermostat like the Rheem’s EcoNet® Smart Thermostat is an easy way to ensure that your HVAC system is working at peak performance. That’s because the EcoNet Smart Thermostat isn’t just intelligent, as the name implies—it’s a genius.

“The thermostat is the brain of your HVAC system,” says Jose De La Portilla, senior manager of education and training at Rheem. “Like the human body, you want a brain that can talk to your entire body. EcoNet talks to the entire HVAC system, so it knows what it is doing at all times, unlike a standard thermostat that can only tell it to turn on or off.”

For homeowners Katerina and Yinon Horwitz, EcoNet makes all the difference.

“The main features that we love are the connectivity with the app, the fact that it’s saving us energy, and our bill is going to go down, as well as how efficient the system is working when it needs to cool off,” Katerina says. “It’s only working at 45%, so you’re not wasting a lot of power.”

Leveraging the technology behind a smart thermostat like EcoNet means homeowners can save energy, create a more sustainable home and, in turn, increase cost savings. Here’s how.

1. Flexibility to adjust from home temperature from anywhere

The EcoNet app makes home comfort and efficiency accessible from the palm of your hand anywhere you are. Homeowners can easily stay connected and change home temperatures on your smartphone whether you’re in the house, down the block or around the world.

2. Scheduling for efficiency while you’re away 

EcoNet’s scheduling feature enables homeowners to prepare and set their home temperatures ahead of time, which can help ensure that their homes are working efficiently even while they are away.

“When we travel, sometimes we forget to set the right temperature,” Yinon says. “You don’t have to run back to the house and manually change it; you can just do it on your phone. You can have a schedule for the week, the night and when you are away.”

3. Geofencing that adjusts to your daily life

Forgot to schedule your home temps for while you’re away? Besides staying connected through the EcoNet app, EcoNet’s geofencing technology uses your phone’s GPS to know when you are or aren’t home, and then heats or cools the house accordingly.

“Since the EcoNet system knows your GPS location, it can tell when you’re close to home and turn your system on before you get home so that when you walk in the door, the system is already working to make sure you’re comfortable,” De La Portilla says.

4. Zoning that keeps each area of your home comfortable and efficient

EcoNet allows homeowners to control the temperature in all different areas, or zones, of the home.

“The amount of heat in a zone changes throughout the day. Zoning allows you to make sure each zone is as comfortable as it can be,” De La Portilla says.

5. Settings to keep your home at peak performance, comfort and efficiency

EcoNet’s smart features work with your entire HVAC system to maintain comfort and efficiency. For example, if your homes includes a dual-fuel system, your contractor can set the system to turn on your gas furnace or heat pump depending on which is more efficient to use.

And if for some reason your HVAC system isn’t working properly, EcoNet will send real-time alerts directly to your smartphone to let you know what the system needs attention. If maintenance is required, the EcoNet app stores your contractor’s information and shares diagnostic details for quick and easy serviceability. 

Ready to get started? Learn more about EcoNet or view the full lineup of Rheem whole-home solutions here.