Comfort Controls | Thermostats

Air conditioning and heating systems are controlled by a thermostat, which senses the current temperature of your home and tells your equipment when to turn on and off. Currently, the most common type is a digital control that can be set to either heating or cooling. In the summer, clients set their programmed thermostats between 70 and 85 degrees, with the average pre-programmed thermostat at 78 degrees. Be sure not to run your air conditioning compressor when it is below 60 degrees outside to avoid needing air conditioning service. In the winter, clients set their programmed comfort control between 65 and 78 degrees, with the average pre-programmed comfort control at 70 degrees.

If you have a programmable digital thermostat, you are able to program different temperatures throughout the day. Summer temperatures should remain within 3 degrees of your ideal comfort setting so humidity will be continually removed from your home. Winter temperatures should remain within 5 degrees of your ideal comfort setting, especially if you have a power humidifier. Digital thermostats typically require batteries while Wi-Fi thermostats typically need electricity to work.

Humidifiers have many control options which are selected based on the type of humidifier, the type of heating & air conditioning system, cost, and practicality for each home. Home humidity levels may take several days to change. Be careful not to set the humidity higher than 45%, as that will cause moisture related problems such as wet or steamy windows. Most humidifiers are installed to run only when the heat is running. If you feel your humidifier is not doing enough, be sure you have all exhaust fans off and the fireplace damper closed.

Humidity Only Control: This type of control is based on the humidity percentage. This may be located on the wall near your thermostat, or on the ductwork near your furnace. Clients need to manually change the percentage based on the current outdoor temperature.

Automatic Adjusting Control: This type automatically decreases the amount of humidity as the outdoor temperature drops. In turn, this prevents condensation from forming when it gets colder outside. This type of control has a range of 1-7, with the highest number being the most amount of humidity possible. Because this adjusts automatically, clients do not need to adjust the number as the seasons change.

Thermostat: This could be a feature built in to a thermostat. All our I.A.Q. thermostats have this built in. The setting may be humidity only or also could be the automatic adjusting style. We would be happy to help you with what is best for you.