{"id":5134,"date":"2020-02-06T15:05:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T21:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.texaselectricityratings.com\/blog\/?p=5134"},"modified":"2020-02-06T15:05:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T21:05:54","slug":"is-it-cheaper-to-leave-your-thermostat-at-one-temperature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.texaselectricityratings.com\/blog\/is-it-cheaper-to-leave-your-thermostat-at-one-temperature\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Cheaper To Leave Your Thermostat At One Temperature?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Is it really better to keep your thermostat at a constant temperature? The physics and math say no. So, are you willing to adapt to save money? <\/center><\/p><\/div>\n

You’ve probably heard somewhere that keeping your Texas home at a steady temperature will save you than if you turned down the thermostat. It sounds like it should make sense, right? After all, if you turn down the heat in your home, the temperature drops \u00a0and then you\u2019ll have to pay those high Texas electricity rates<\/a> to heat the place back up. Right?<\/p>\n

WRONG!<\/p>\n

While that notion sounds plausible, it\u2019s really just myth. And it’s all because of Newton’s Law of Cooling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Does Turning Down The Thermostat Do?<\/h2>\n

Newton’s Law of Cooling shows that the rate at which the temperature of a thing changes is proportional to the difference between its temperature and the temperature of what’s around it.<\/p>\n

Let’s say you’ve got two bricks, one heated up to 70\u00b0F and one heated to 40\u00b0F. You set them outside where it’s 32\u00b0F. According to the Law of Cooling, the 70\u00b0F brick will initially loose heat faster in the cold than the 40\u00b0F brick. However, the rate of heat loss<\/a> slows as the bricks’ temperatures gets closer to 32\u00b0F. Why? Because the temperature change slows down as the bricks\u2019 temperature gets closer to the surrounding air temperature.<\/p>\n

How does Newton\u2019s Law of Cooling work with my home?<\/h3>\n

Let’s assume the inside of your Texas home is 72\u00b0F and the outside is 32\u00b0F. When the heat is turned off your home will begin to cool. Of course, exactly how fast that happens depends on the home\u2019s heat loss (how well insulated and air sealed the building is). But because the rate at which the building cools is proportionalto the outside temperature, the house loses heat more quickly at 72\u00b0F than it does at 62\u00b0F. That happens because heat loss slows down as the inside and outside temperatures get closer to being equal.<\/p>\n

So instead of your home’s inside temperature dropping to 32\u00b0F faster than a jalape\u00f1o dropped into a jug of liquid nitrogen, the temperature actually glides down a slope that gets more and more gradual.<\/p>\n

Constant Temperature and Heat Loss<\/h3>\n

Starting with some very broad assumptions, let’s compare the heat needed in British Thermal Units<\/a> (BTUs) to heat a moderately insulated 2,000 sq. ft home. Let’s also assume that it’s 32\u00b0F outside.<\/p>\n