Keep it Cool
Programmable thermostat may be the answer
By Mike Klimek

People who are new to town should brace themselves for two inevitable eye-openers - blazing hot summer days and the expensive power bills that follow.

You can't do much about the outside heat, but you can goose down your power bill with a programmable thermostat.

Manufacturers claim that programmable thermostats can cut energy costs by up to 35 percent. I don't know how accurate that number is for our area, but a programmable thermostat will help to bring your costs down if you program it correctly.

Different people have different theories on how they should run the air conditioner. My brother, for instance, turns the thermostat completely off while he is at work. When he gets home he is greeted by a blast of 95-degree air. Then he turns the thermostat back on. I'm sure the air conditioner runs non-stop until the wee hours of the morning to try to bring the temperature back down.

Other people set their thermostat and leave it alone. However, cooling the house for the entire day while you're away isn't that good of an idea either.

A programmable thermostat solves both of these extremes. You program it to cool the air to your comfort level when you are home, and then when you leave for work, you program it to start cooling when the air reaches a slightly higher temperature.

Home improvement centers carry models that range in price from about $25 to $100, and it will only take about 30 minutes to install the unit. Saving money just doesn't get any easier.

Incidentally, if you have a heat pump, stores most likely won't carry the correct thermostat for your system. You will need to go to a specialty wholesaler, and I would even recommend calling in a pro because heat pumps are challenging.

To install the thermostat yourself, turn off the power to the air conditioning and heating system at the main panel. Remove the cover on your old thermostat.

There will be a couple of screws that hold the thermostat body to the wall. Remove the screws and gently pull the thermostat away from the wall.

Depending on your system, there will be several wires coming from the wall that will be attached to various terminals on your thermostat. As you carefully unscrew the wires from each terminal, label the wire with masking tape to identify which terminal it was attached to. Each terminal will have a letter next to it. Write the letter on the masking tape that you attached to each wire.

Don't get too worried, we are only talking about three to five wires here. I would recommend that you tape the wires to the wall, because fishing them out of the wall will really cause the sweat to pour.

Thread the wires through the opening of your new thermostat and mount the thermostat to the wall with the screws provided.

Following the manufacturer's instructions, connect the wires to the terminals on the new thermostat. Install the batteries and snap the thermostat's housing onto the base. All that is left is to turn the power back on and program the unit.

I have spoken to several professionals, from air conditioning contractors to a Nevada Power spokesman, about the most efficient way to program a thermostat. The consensus is to set the thermostat 2 to 4 degrees higher when you are away from home, than the temperature when you are at home. For example, if you prefer the temperature to be 78 degrees when you are at home, program the thermostat to turn on the air conditioner when the temperature reaches 80 to 82 degrees. Personally, I raise my ideal temperature by 4 degrees when I am gone.

What it really amounts to though, is how uncomfortable you can stand to be. The less your air conditioner is running the lower your power bill is going to be. To compensate, raise the temperature in the house slightly and use ceiling fans.