I’ll tell you now: I’m not the least bit interested in saving energy. There’s more than enough energy, in more than enough forms, to provide for everything we need, plus people in poorer countries, with more to spare... if we could just get the government to get out of the way.
What I am interested in, of course, is saving money. I’ll do quite a bit to accomplish that goal, but I have heating and air conditioning in my house for two reasons: (1) because I can, and (2) because I like it.
The geniuses at EnergyStar, i.e., at the EPA, have developed a set of requirements for a thermostat to be EnergyStar compliant, i.e., “green enough.”
These thermostats come out of the box with a set of default settings that are beyond ridiculous.
On their web site, they say, “Resist the urge to override the pre-programmed settings. Every time you do, you use more energy and may end up paying more on your energy bill.”
Really?! The more my system runs, the more it costs me? No!
Want to see it? Here it is.
Surgeon General’s Warning: Proceed cautiously. You may be overcome by howls of derisive laughter. Do not read while driving or consuming beverages that you do not intend to have coming out of your nose.
| Setting | Time | Setpoint Temperature (Heat) | Setpoint Temperature (Cool) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake | 6:00 a.m. | ≤ 70° F | ≥ 78° F In the summer, I’m generally cold between the time I get out of bed, and the time I get out of the shower, at which time I’m hot... so it doesn’t bother me to have the A/C off. But I push this time earlier... around 4:00 a.m. so I don’t wake up cold. Oh, and let’s not forget, they wanted me to have it at 82° overnight, rather than my actual 68°. |
| Day | 8:00 a.m. | Setback at least 8° F | Setup at least 7° F I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, that they assume I’m not going to be home today. Otherwise, setting my thermostat to “at least” 85° is out of the question. But still. And in some houses, this isn’t practical, thanks to the seemingly-universal tendency of air conditioning contractors to install a system that’s too small for the house: if you change your unit’s setting any higher at all, it will never recover the house to the temperature you want until well-after the sun goes down. |
| Evening | 6:00 p.m. | ≤ 70° F | ≥ 78° F Yeah, okay, no. First of all, that has my system not even considering cooling the house down until some time after I get home. And when I get home, the absolute last thing I want is for the house not to be comfortable. My setting? 71° |
| Sleep | 10:00 p.m. | Setback at least 8° F I was really starting to think they weren’t that far off on heat settings... however... the “wake” time needs to be earlier so I can actually get out of bed, rather than reveling in the warmth of the covers... and at night... 62°?! Yep, they’ve lost their ever-loving minds again. | Setup at least 4° F Okay, again, no. Let’s see... that’s 78 + “at least” 4... 82°?!? I don’t know when they go to bed, but I can’t fall asleep when it’s too warm or too humid. Some time around 8:00 p.m., my bedroom window unit is kicked in to 68-70°. Yes, the central switches off around 8:30, primarily to encourage me to stay out of the rest of the house, and gravitate around the bed. If I have friends over, later, the central stays on. |
So... to recap... during the morning, I’m with them, except that I turn my window unit back on so I don’t have to get dressed in a humid bedroom. During the day, sure... what do I care? No point in keeping it cool all day when nobody is here. Afternoon and overnight? They’re insane. No amount of money-saving is worth being as miserable as I would be if my house were 7° (during the evening) or 12° or more higher when I’m trying to catch some Z’s.
The air must be very, very thin wherever these guidelines were made up. Oxygen shortage is the only explanation I can come up with.
Believe me when I tell you that I’m not going to give even one moment’s consideration to resisting changing my thermostat. And that little button that defaults it back to the factory settings? Not gonna use that one either.
I can just see some poor sucker sitting around, miserable, cranky, but with a twisted inward contentment because he’s “saving the planet” by making himself miserable. Some people enjoy martyrdom. Not me.
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