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The Best Temperatures For The Thermostat To Save Money On Energy Bills

Have you ever been shocked at the cost of your bills after the heating or cooling season starts? You’re not alone—a lot of our customers say that their energy costs are the most important factor when running their heating and cooling system. 

If you’re ready to make moves to maximize your savings on your energy bill, you’re in the right place. There are some simple ways to determine the best temperature to set your thermostat to save money—Outstanding Heating & Cooling is here to help you find it and provide thermostat installation for better energy efficiency!

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How Much Does Each Degree Really Cost?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, for every degree you adjust your thermostat for at least 8 hours a day, you can save about 1% on your heating or cooling costs. That means:

For example, if your household spends $150 per month on heating and cooling, adjusting by just 3°F could save about $4.50 every month—that’s more than $50 per year! 

Best Temperature to Set Thermostat to Save Money in Summer 

The US Department of Energy recommends 78 degrees as the optimal temperature for your thermostat in the cooling season. When it’s hot outside, it’s tempting to crank the central air conditioning down to a colder setting of 68°F, but this makes your system work harder than necessary. 

Instead, try these temperature settings throughout the day to use less energy and save on your cooling bill:

Research by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has found that people are typically most comfortable at temperatures of 73-79 degrees and don’t notice temperature changes of up to 4 degrees. 

Using a ceiling fan along with these settings helps you feel cooler while keeping costs under control. Fans don’t actually lower the temperature in the room, but they create a wind-chill effect that makes the air feel up to 4 degrees cooler on your skin. That means if your thermostat is set to 78°F, it can feel more like 74°F when the fan is running, all while your air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard.

Best Temperature to Set Thermostat to Save Money in Winter 

In colder months, the opposite applies. Lowering the winter thermostat setting just a few degrees can significantly reduce heating demand and save money on your energy bills. Your furnace doesn’t have to cycle on as often when the thermostat is set lower, which means less fuel or electricity is used to maintain your home’s warm air temperature. 

Try these recommended thermostat settings:

Small changes in lifestyle make these lower settings easy to manage. Wearing cozy sweaters, adding extra blankets to the bed, and using draft stoppers around doors and windows all help maintain warmth without overworking your furnace.

Another tip to lower your heating bills is to use direct sunlight to your advantage. Open blinds and curtains during the day to let the sun naturally warm your home, then close them at night to help trap heat inside. These little steps, paired with the best thermostat settings, can dramatically lower your heating costs while helping you stay warm all season long.

Optimizing Your Temperature Settings

Here’s a simple rule of thumb: the more the normal temperature INSIDE your home differs from the temperature OUTSIDE your home, the higher your bill will be. This goes for heating and cooling systems, including furnaces, air conditioners, and heat pump systems.

An example for you: it’s 90 degrees outside and your house is sweltering hot. You immediately reach for the thermostat and set it to 70 degrees. Your HVAC system needs to work harder to lower the temperature to 70 than it would to lower the temperature to 74. It’s simple math and an easy way to understand how thermostat settings directly impact the workload of your air conditioner. 

It works the same for your furnace. If it’s 20 degrees outside and you want to heat your home to 75 degrees instead of 68 degrees, your heating system needs to work harder (it uses more energy) to reach your desired temperature. So basically, the more energy your system uses to reach your desired temperatures, the higher your bills will be. 

Let’s go over some tips to help you use the best temperatures for your family and your wallet.

1. Experiment With Temperatures Until Your Family Is Comfortable 

For some people, this might seem like a big jump from your ideal temperature. But we have good news! We can help you acclimate your family to more energy-efficient temperatures and stay comfortable without unnecessary expense.

Do a little trial to find the ideal home temperature for your family. Over the course of a few days or weeks, change the normal setting on your thermostat by one degree. Give the people in your home time to acclimate to the temperature change until everyone is comfortable. Keep going until your family members start to feel discomfort. This will signal that you are nearing the optimal room temperature for your family AND your thermostat. 

See if everyone can tolerate these temperatures in typical seasonal clothing—if so, you’ve found your sweet spot! Stay at these comfortable temperatures (or better yet, program your thermostat to this temperature!) to see maximum energy savings on your bill.

2. Purchase and Use a New Programmable Thermostat  

One of the most inexpensive and valuable investments you can make into your HVAC system is a new programmable thermostat installation. These thermostats give you the capability to set schedules for your family. These schedules help you to maximize your energy savings. Remembering to adjust the temperatures when you’re away and in bed can be hard to do. A programmable thermostat takes care of this for you. 

For example, if the US Department of Energy recommendation of 78 degrees is just too hot for you and your family, you can program it to 78 while you’re away and then have it make system adjustments just before you arrive home. This will mean your HVAC system isn’t working hard to keep your home cooled to your optimal temperature while you’re away, which would be a waste of energy.

If you’re looking for an extra level of convenience and efficiency, upgrading your existing thermostat to a smart thermostat is a great next step. Smart thermostats take the concept of a programmable thermostat even further by learning your schedule and preferences over time. They can automatically adjust the temperature based on when you’re home or away and even control your HVAC system remotely via a smartphone app. 

If you’re ready to optimize your home’s temperature and save more energy, let us help you explore programmable and smart thermostat options that best suit your needs.

3. Lower Energy Costs While You’re Away or in Bed  

Keeping in line with the above tip, you can set your thermostat for small changes in temperature to save money on your bills. While everyone is asleep or away at school or work, your system shouldn’t have to work so hard to keep the temperatures down (or up in the winter). 

Changing your thermostat by 7-10 degrees while you’re away or in bed can save up to 10% on your energy bills monthly. Changing it by only this small amount will also ensure your system doesn’t have to work too hard to adjust the temperatures when you wake up or get home.

4. Figure Out Your Exact Savings 

Sometimes, seeing the numbers helps us make final decisions. There is a simple estimate you can do to figure out how much of a difference your temperature changes make on your monthly bill. Every degree you raise or lower your thermostat is estimated to save you 1% on HVAC costs. 

Heating and air conditioning account for about 52% of the average household’s energy use, which means more than half of your energy bill is directly tied to the settings you choose. To estimate your savings, take your average monthly energy bill and calculate how much of it goes toward heating and cooling.

For example, if your total monthly bill is $200, about $104 of that cost (52%) is HVAC-related. Lowering your thermostat by just 2°F in the winter or raising it by 2°F in the summer can reduce that portion by about 2%. In this example, you’d save about $2 each month (or $24 over the course of a year) just from a small adjustment.

Now, think about what happens if you adjust the temperature by 5%. That means lowering the thermostat by 5°F in the winter or raising it by 5°F in the summer. Using the same $200 monthly bill example, you’d save roughly 5% of your $104 heating and cooling costs—that’s about $5 per month, or $60 per year. 

For larger homes with higher energy bills, the savings could easily double or triple, making thermostat installation one of the smartest long-term investments you can make for both comfort and efficiency.

Ready to Upgrade Your Thermostat?

Upgrading your thermostat is a quick and easy way to enhance your home’s comfort and energy efficiency. At Outstanding Heating & Cooling, we make the thermostat installation process smooth and hassle-free. Here’s how it works:

Stay Comfortable, Save Energy, Spend Less

No matter what decision you make, having this information makes it easier to make informed decisions when it comes to your energy bills and HVAC equipment. The team at Outstanding Heating & Cooling prides itself on its decades of experience in the HVAC industry. 

We are well-informed and able to help you make the best decisions when it comes to your home comfort. Let us know where you want to make changes, and we can perform thermostat installation and make other recommendations based on your goals and budget! Contact us here!

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