How to program the heating to save?

According to data from the Institute for Energy Diversification (IDAE), the most important energy consumption in homes is heating. On average, a Spanish household dedicates 47% of its energy to satisfying this very seasonal and important need.

Paying the utmost attention to improving its efficiency is essential, and to achieve this, being able to program its use is an essential element.

Two situations of energy waste

Maintaining the ideal temperature of the spaces we inhabit during winter is not easy. Our lifestyle habits have changed dramatically in recent decades: today we spend many hours away from home. We must avoid falling into one of these two situations of energy waste, both very common and frequent:

Having the heating at "normal" temperature when we are not at home: this is, obviously, nonsense. No one is benefiting from that heat that leaves its mark on your bill.

Returning home and the heating has been off for many hours: in addition to the discomfort of being cold until the house warms up, wanting to quickly reach the comfort temperature is an inefficient and not recommended way of treating our heating system.

The solution to this double-edged discomfort is clearly to program your heating to behave rationally and, of course, efficiently.

"You need a stable temperature, but your house doesn't. Turn the heat down when you're not home."

Temperature for the house

It is inevitable to talk about heating without touching the question that is always repeated: at what temperature does your house have to be?

As with all important questions, there is no one-size-fits-all answer and everyone's situation will have to be taken into account. But as a general rule, both the IDAE and other specialized organizations consider that we can spend a pleasant winter handling the following figures:

Comfort temperature: the one we use when we are at home and we are not sleeping. With 21ºC we should be able to spend a pleasant winter, we don't need more. If we feel cold, we should try to warm ourselves something more.

Night temperature: we must sleep wrapped up and, consequently, lower the temperature at night. Between 18ºC and 20ºC is desirable.

Temperature for babies: if there are small children at home, the comfort temperature can be raised to range between 22ºC and at most 24ºC.

Absent temperature: the one we must choose if we are going to be away from home for more than two hours. If we go to work or other tasks that keep us away from home for between two and twelve hours, it is advisable to choose between 17ºC or 18ºC. If we go on a trip, we must turn off the power in our house and keep the heating completely off or at a minimum temperature to avoid freezing and deterioration of furniture or utensils. Around 7ºC may suffice.

The key to all this is being able to anticipate the moment when we need each temperature. We need that when we open the door we already have the comfort temperature and that when we get into bed we are already reaching the night temperature. To do this, we must give the orders to our heating in advance that will be greater or less depending on the size of the home and the heating system. As a general rule, for urban flats of less than 150 square meters and a natural gas boiler, the following notice should be sufficient:

Ask for a comfort temperature when we return from work: 1 hour and a half before arriving home.

Set night temperature: 2 hours before going to sleep.

Ask for a comfort temperature when returning from a long trip: about 8 hours before arriving home.

To get ahead of our needs in this way, we need to program the heating using a thermostat.

"Your house doesn't need to be hotter than 21 degrees during the winter. And in the bedrooms you can leave it at 18 degrees."

Analog thermostat and the smart home

The thermostat controls the heating operation. The simplest and most primitive thermostats had only one function: to regulate the temperature. By selecting a few degrees, it acts by turning on the heating when the temperature is lower than those degrees, and turning it off when this set temperature is equal to or exceeded. Without a doubt, the thermostat was a great invention, but being left alone with this function leaves us with the discomfort of having to start the thermostat manually and not being able to anticipate the moment.

The great evolution in terms of thermostats came when they managed to incorporate a clock. Thus we can program the hours in which we want to request one or another temperature from the thermostat. So we can get ahead of the moment.

Although this system is much more efficient than that of manual thermostats, it still has some drawbacks. For example, the normal thing is that our life habit is not so fixed, and that many days we return home after the scheduled time, thus wasting energy.

To avoid this point, newer thermostats have wireless internet connection. So we can control everything from our mobile, remotely, and warn that we are late ... or that we will be home earlier than expected.

In fact, with smart home technology it is even possible to select different temperatures for each room in your house.

Source: Endesa