We have a Honeywell T9 for the sole purpose of once I’m comfortable in bed I am not walking back downstairs to change the thermostat if I deem it uncomfortable. Other than that, it’s on a temperature “hold” 24/7, which means it otherwise operates as a basic dumb thermostat. It does log runtime and tell me when the filter needs changed. You can also change the filter change interval, based on “days of runtime”.
I can also set the fan to “circulate” mode which will turn on just the fan on and off occasionally to move air through the house. That alone has helped tremendously, with the other thermostat you had off, auto (fan would only kick on when it calls for heat/AC), and on (fan runs constantly). The upstairs would end up boiling hot, ground floor fairly comfortable, and downstairs pretty chilly in the winter regardless of the season.
I can also compare years. Last year in July the average high in my area was 76F with 5 days of rain, 15 days of cloudy, and 11 sunny days. 2023 was an average of 77F, 4 days of rain, 6 cloudy days, and 21 sunny days. But I cut my AC usage by over 30 hours by tinting the windows in the front of my house that face east.
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