My thermostat differential is set to 1 degree, can it be changed?
I keep my air on 82F with a 3 degree differential. It kicks on when it hits 85. I just got a programmable thermostat because it says it will save you money, however it will hold my temperature (while I’m home) at 82 within one degree. When I changed my degree differential to 2 degrees last year my usage and cost went up. I changed it back to 3 and it went down. Won’t a programmable thermostat keeping it at 82 cost me more? Is there a way to change the differential on a programmable thermostat? I have a Honeywell 5 day / 2 day thermostat with 4 time settings.
Answer from Green Energy Efficient Homes
First, for readers who aren’t familiar with the intricacies of programmable thermostats, we need to explain the difference between thermostat differential, and multiple programmable thermostat settings.
Every thermostat has a temperature gap or differential between the activation and shutoff of the cooling or heating equipment. For example, if you set your thermostat cooling temperature to 82F, the thermostat might activate the air conditioning when the temperature hits 85F, and shut if off again when the temperature hits 82F. The gap between activation and shutoff is the differential – in this case, (85F-82F = 3F).
Programmable thermostats are a particular type of thermostat, where you can program the thermostat to switch between economical and comfortable temperatures at preset times of the day. Some programmable thermostats let you set a different time program for each day of the week, while others only give you a choice of weekday or weekend settings. You can generally set the economy and comfort temperatures, and the times to switch between them, across a fairly broad range of values.
Back to programmable thermostat differential: on most programmable thermostats you cannot change the differential. So generally you are stuck with the differential that is factory preset, whether you have a programmable or a manual thermostat.
I checked through several Honeywell programmable thermostat specifications and all of them seem to have the same temperature differential of +/- 1F, which I interpret as not a 1 degree spread but a 2 degree spread (1 degree C though).
What is the effect of differential on efficiency?
The bigger the differential between activation and shutoff, the longer it takes the air conditioner or heater to bring your living space to the comfort temperature, and the longer it takes your living space to go back to the temperature at which the cooling or heating starts up again.
Too small a differential can cause short-cycling, in which the air conditioner or heater kicks in for short periods, then shuts off when the small differential is spanned. Short cycling increases the number of times the system starts up, which causes wear and tear on moving parts; it is a bigger problem with air conditioners than furnaces. Short cycling is not a problem for passive electric heaters, but electric heaters with fans can be affected because of the moving fan parts.
The converse problem of having a really wide thermostat differential relates to the peak operating efficiency of furnaces or air conditioners. Most furnaces have a low-fire and high-fire setting; the low-fire setting is used to maintain current temperature or bring temperature up slightly, while the high-fire setting is used to raise the temperature quickly. When you have a wide programmable thermostat differential, the furnace typically kicks in on low, but after a few minutes if it has not achieved the comfort temperature, it moves to high burn, which is less efficient. This means that a very wide differential on heating increases the percentage of heating accomplished by high burn, which increases overall gas usage. A ‘smart’ furnace coupled with the appropriate programmable thermostat shouldn’t have this problem however; the only time the furnace would go into high-fire setting is when it’s very cold out and the furnace is having to work hard to close the spread, or when the temperature setting changes significantly (for instance when the morning cycle kicks in).
High efficiency, newer air conditioners also have different efficiency levels for high and low cooling power. When the air conditioner has a small cooling load it typically slows down the compressor so that it operates at a more efficient speed (in terms of BTUs of cooling power per kwh of energy used). This would suggest that a low programmable thermostat differential such as you have, would lead to better efficiency than a high differential, because the unit would cycle more often. However, if the space being cooled is small, or if the thermostat is placed too close to the air conditioning vents and is therefore instantly cooled down as soon as the thermostat turns the air conditioning on, you will experience short cycling and both increase energy usage and wear out the equipment.
With that background in mind, let’s get back to your original question, which I interpret as: If I have a manual thermostat with a differential of 1 degree (or 2 degrees if we assume your thermostat is the typical “+/- 1F”), and past experience suggests that setting the old non-programmable thermostat to a 1 degree differential means it takes more energy to operate than setting it with a 3 degree differential, will the energy savings of using a programmable thermostat be countered by the reduced efficiency from the 1 degree differential this programmable thermostat temperature spread seems to be set at?
To answer that question we need to understand the relative savings obtained by (A) varying the temperature setting between economy and comfort settings, and (B) having a wider or narrower programmable thermostat differential. In general, if you are routinely out of the house for several hours during the day, and allow the air conditioning temperature to climb considerably from its comfort to its economy setting, you can easily save 5-15% on your energy bills (depending on the range of temperatures, your home insulation levels, indoor/outdoor temperature spread, etc.). If you use the economy setting at night when the sleeping human body can tolerate a bit more heat, those savings climb further. If you found that the 3 degree differential on your manual thermostat saved you more than 15% over and above the 1 degree setting, it may be that you are better of sticking with the manual thermostat.
There are also factors external to the one you changed (temperature spread from 1F to 3F) that may have affected your savings without you realizing it. For example, when you saved money with the 3F spread, was the outdoor temperature warmer (winter) or cooler (summer)? Was there some other use of energy in the home (water heater, stove for natural gas, or any appliance / lights for electricity) that might account for the difference in energy?
I think a programmable thermostat is the correct choice, because there are so many variables that affect your air conditioning energy consumption. The fact that so many Honeywell programmable thermostats have the same +/- 1F spread suggests that modern furnaces and air conditioners can operate efficiently with this spread. The key is to make sure you avoid short cycling by putting the thermostat far enough from a direct heat/cooling source, and putting it in a room that doesn’t heat or cool quickly. For example, if the room where the thermostat is present is near a heating/cooling vent, damping the vent louvers or the actual ductwork to reduce airflow will help reduce short cycling.
I bought a high efficiency furnace/AC (American Standard, Platinum Series) and it has COST me an average or $40 more per month in electric costs. (Little. Or no change in gas consumption). What is wrong and how may I fix it.
$40 per month more in electric bills is a lot. Let’s assume a price of $0.20 per KW for argument’s sake – that means your furnace could be contributing 200 kwh of extra consumption a month, or 6.6 kwh a day. The Platinum 95 model I checked on the web has a half horsepower blower motor, which translates into 372 watts. So if your fan is running at full speed continuously that is the likely culprit. Some things to check:
1) Make sure your thermostat has the fan set to “Auto” mode, not “On” mode.
2) Turn down the default fan speed. On my Bryant furnace, the manual provides instructions on how to change dip switches to set the fan speed. I did this early on to lower the fan speed and this saved me a fair bit of energy. If you’re not sure how to do this, ask your installer how to do it, or ask them to change it.
If the fan is not running continuously then something else may be wrong. If you get a whole house electricity monitor you can check for current draw with the furnace running and not running (idle) and disconnected (from the circuit breaker) and that may provide clues as to whether it is really the furnace causing the increased usage, or something unrelated that just happened to get added to your consumption around the time the furnace went in.
Depending where you live (such as Ontario), conserving is relatively useless because they keep upping the price of electricity.
I disagree. In fact, conserving is even more useful if they raise electricity prices because the less electricity you use, the less an increase in prices affects you. I think perhaps your point is that conserving may feel useless, because the savings you thought you were going to get might be eaten up by increased prices. But the motivation to conserve should become stronger the higher electricity prices get.
My own view as an Ontario resident is that the current provincial government’s plans to cut electricity costs are a wrong-headed knee-jerk reaction to their fear of being tossed in the next election, instead of sound energy policy. The best way to motivate conservation is to keep increasing prices. I hear of people who are spending $400-$500 a month air conditioning their homes in the summer and griping about electricity costs. That’s because they’re trying to live in luxurious comfort in their poorly insulated monster homes during a heat wave. I live in a small, well insulated hundred year old house and even during heat waves manage to keep my bill below $100 a month because I am modest in my use of AC and have done as much energy retrofitting as I can. I realize some people heat with electricity and you do need to stay warm, but a programmable thermostat, combined with weatherproofing, insulation upgrades, new windows/doors etc. is a great way to cut the impact of high (or rising) electricity costs.
Service folks coming next week. Variable fan speed makes it hard to tell how much or when it’s blowing. I’ll follow up after service. Thanks. But where do I get the whole house electric monitor?
The one I have, and recommend, is the Power Cost Monitor, you can see a description of it and link to buy it on my Kill-A-Watt meter page.
I got a Honeywell FocusPro.
It only turns the heater on for 5 minutes at a times no matter what. It looks like it’s trying to maintain temperature but the fan part is on more than the heating is. The room feels cool instead of warm on cold nights. Like the Honeywell controller but don’t want to be up all night turning heater up to get warm (have multiple health problems)
You’re keeping your room heated to 82F and you’re bothered about saving money?! Try 70 or less for a start!
Andy, I am pretty sure the original question was about air conditioning not heating. So 70 or less would significantly INCREASE costs :), rather than save money.
I have found when it comes to air conditioning that longer cycles and bigger differentials are more efficient. The reason being that it takes a few minutes for the compressor to get up to peak efficiency. It has to pump up the condenser and lower the evaporator pressure and all that takes time so until the unit has been running for several minutes, it has not reached peak efficiency. Shorter cycles mean more total time spent in the less than peak efficiency range. However back to the original question, with the Honeywell programmable thermostats, you cannot set the differential. They operate off a different principle where they are not looking for a fixed temp on and temp off. Instead they use proportional integral control (PI). They are looking at the setpoint and how far the temp is away from the setpoint. Based on the error, it increases an output percentage. That percentage is used to calculate how long it should run and how long it should be off. You can set the cycles per hour in a Honeywell thermostat which will increase the time that the unit runs and the off time. But you cannot set a differential.
Hi Brian, This is true and it’s a bit frustrating for me. Do you know of any brand of thermostat that does allow you to adjust the temperature differential? Thanks!
Luxpro PSP511LCa
I have a new Focuspro Th6000 Thermostat installed.It cycles the heat about every 20 minutes. It looks like it’s a 1° variance in temperature. When I setting number 26 is set on comfort which is zero. I’m wondering about the Gas consumption. Would the economy setting extend that cycle time.
I’m not sure what you’re asking. A 1 degree variance in temperature and a 20 minute heating cycle sounds too tight. Your setting number 26 and ‘zero’ are just numbers – what do they represent? I suggest you experiment with different settings to see if the cycle time reduces. The economy setting on a programmable thermostat typically means it has a default program for turning heat down at times when people tend not to be around or awake (weekdays during working hours, nights during sleeping hours).
Sorry, but the info above is logically flawed. A forced air gas furnace controlled by a thermostat with a 1deg. differential IS short cycling and during peak cold season will kick on and off often enough to cause a premature failure of the fan motors. Just replacing the blower motor by a professional (as is the case with most people) with easily run $800+ which is worth a heck of a lot of gas, not to mention causing a crisis of freezing temperatures within the house for an unknown amount of time (which can freeze and burst all of the water pipes, etc.) until a replacement blower motor can be shipped in and installed, which in my case of living in a small town was over a WEEK. Manufacturers need to include the ability for the homeowner to program the differential depending on their situation.
You’re right that too low a differential will result in short cycling. Your comment has prompted me to rewrite my answer. I originally suggested the best thing is to find a programmable thermostat with a 3F spread. But upon further research I find that all the Honeywell programmable thermostats I looked up had the same +/- 1F spread, which suggests that this is pretty standard; and as long as the thermostat is far enough from the source of heat or cooling, the short cycling is unlikely to be a problem and the savings from having a programmable thermostat will far outweigh the savings the original asker experienced with the wider spread on the manual thermostat (assuming those savings weren’t in fact the result of some external factor).
Many digital thermostats DO have a setting to control the temperature differential, it’s just usually hidden in a “secret” menu. Check the manual buried in the back. Every one of the last three thermostats I’ve purchased have this setting. In my house I set the “swing” to 3 degrees F and for the detached garage I use 6 degrees F. For some time previously my girlfriend was always complaining about the heating cycle temperature swing so I had the house unit’s differential set to 1°F. Finally I got worried about the wear and tear as well as tired of the extra cost and had her put on some more clothes!
Interesting discussion! Some of the posters must have their answers by now after 2 years 🙂
However, it’s possible to buy a Sonoff TH16 (temperature and humidity, 16 Amp) thermostat switch. It can be purchased direct from China for about $10 and supports a number of different sensors, typically costing around $5, probably more if you buy locally. Together, they become a thermostat. It is operated remotely through a free app on your phone or tablet, usually using eWelink.
The module can be set to operate in multiple ways with reference to temperature or humidity in one-off, repeat, or count-down modes, either by day or week. You can select any temperature or humidity differential you wish, so it certainly solves Brian and John’s problem. (They also produce an electricity usage module for those interested in monitoring that.) Their products can be integrated with Alexa and Google Assistant if you are that way inclined,
We have an ageing classic mechanical Honeywell thermostat, and it was a simple matter to wire the new unit in series with that, so not really disturbing the existing setup. The Honeywell is now set for 74F (safety override) and continuous operation. The Honewell’s pin 3, ‘call for heat’ output becomes the ‘live/active’ input for the Sonoff. It’s extremely simple to wire: two wires in and two wires out (plus ground if you wish). The Sonoff is operating between 66F and 70F (off overnight).
I find it works very reliably. I can check temperature and/or humidity from my phone, and if I want to activate, deactivate or change my settings, I can do that in seconds from anywhere in the world with a wi-fi or phone connection.
How do you power the th16 to control a wet contact relay with only 24vac? Requires at least 90vac?
I was told by a Honeywell rep that ALL of their thermostats are set with +-1 degree differential and they cannot be changed. I just had one installed and I think it’s going to kill my furnace from all the short cycling. I’m looking for another brand that will allow at least 2 degrees. I am looking for recommendations, if anyone has some.
Another factor that saves energy and money with a large differential, like 10°F differential, when heating with a one-step (on – off) natural gas furnace, is related to the less cycling, is you save on heat lost from the ducts in the attic, and heat lost from the furnace in the vented closet. With low differential, the furnace and duct are always warm and loose heat.
The way I get 10°F differential is manually. That is manually changing the set point all the time. If I am cold, i put setpoint to 80°F. As soon as it gets to 80°F, I turn down the set point to 70°F. Takes about two hours to get cold again, and I have to do it again. Of course I prefer a thermostat that has a large differential option, but I have not found one that does more than 3°F