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Old 02-16-12, 03:25 PM   #11
strider3700
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wow, I don't ever turn my heat up to 72. I go up to 67 during the day and let it drop to 64 at night. The woodstove will get the house over 72 after running for a few hours though.

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Old 04-02-13, 08:20 PM   #12
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The recent Ask This Old House episode had a realy good segment on the newest version of the Nest "learning" thermostat - skip to Chapter 5 (the fifth hash line on the bottom):

Video: Ask TOH | Painting Cabinets, Smart Thermostat | Watch This Old House Online | PBS Video

They are pretty thorough in the walk-through of the features.
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Old 04-03-13, 08:51 AM   #13
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Tim,

Sadly, look at the degree day data with the dumb and smart thermostat. Yes, you paid 5% less with the smart one, but the heating load, as measured by degree days, was 11.5% lower in the interval when the smart one was in use.

I support programable thermostats for the right application, but I not sure this data proves your point.

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Old 04-03-13, 10:13 AM   #14
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If you run the numbers, its actually a 16% decrease in natural gas usage. It a 5% decrease per heating degree day.

Programmable thermostats really are a never-loose kinda device. They pay for themselves very quickly in almost every case I've ever seen.
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Old 04-03-13, 11:29 AM   #15
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Daox,

You are right about the therm reduction (60.8 to 51.0 =-16.12). However the reduction of degree days is 1029 to 911 = -11.47.

So , despite a decrease in the heating load of ~ 11.5%, there was a reduction in gas usage of 16%.

Maybe that difference was where the 5% reduction came from . . . .

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Old 04-08-13, 01:09 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevehull View Post
You are right about the therm reduction (60.8 to 51.0 =-16.12). However the reduction of degree days is 1029 to 911 = -11.47.

So , despite a decrease in the heating load of ~ 11.5%, there was a reduction in gas usage of 16%.

Maybe that difference was where the 5% reduction came from . . . .

Steve
I want to provide some clarification on my measured 5% decrease in Natural Gas usage.

I compared natural gas use for the same billing period (Jan / Feb.) bill for the year before and after I installed the programmable thermostat. I then pulled the Heating Degree Day data (from wunderground.com) for the same days as the billing period for each year. Then I divided the Therms of Natural Gas used by Heating Degree Days (Therms / H.D.D.) to compare the difference the programmable thermostat made.

Therms of Natural Gas used per Heating Degree Day was the point of comparison that showed the 5% reduction in Natural Gas used. There is probably a more accurate way to calculate the difference, but not with the tools that I have.

I hope that helps,
Tim

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