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Energy Saver: Programmable Thermostat Upgrade
(continued ...) switch thermostat 6 times a day every day? And who is getting out of bed when it is 48 F (9 C) to raise the set point so the icicles melt? Well, I could answer yes to the first question and offer a coin flip operation to answer the later question. Another answer is just skipping all this and turning your manual thermostat down by 2 F (1 C) in winter and up 2 F (1 C) in summer. This manual change will likely get you a 5 to 10% savings off the cost of your annual energy. However, there is a better solution and that is to automate the energy reduction recipe you design for your house.
Buy a programmable electronic thermostat that has the Energy Star logo on its packaging. This is easy and yes, you can do this! Before going to the home-center, make note of what kind of system you have: forced air, geothermal, boiler, or whatever combination of heat/cool you have. Once at the home-center, ask for help or just locate the thermostat display and read the packages. Many thermostats can handle most combinations of any type of heat/cool equipment. However, there are a few that cannot handle every possibility. If you have a heat pump system, look for a programmable thermostat specifically for heat pumps. If you have a steam boiler or radiant floor system, see the discussion further ahead on 'smart recovery' features of some programmable thermostats. You must pick 'smart recovery' type of thermostat to achieve savings with these systems due to their slow response flywheel effect of the system.