Why Thermostat Placement in Your Beaumont Home Matters

April 19, 2022
Thermostat Settings in Beaumont, TX

Why Thermostat Placement in Your Beaumont Home Matters

When it comes to regulating the temperature in your Beaumont, Texas home, there are countless considerations to make. Your HVAC equipment must be properly sized and perfectly suited to the layout of your living environment. Even where you place your thermostat matters. Installing this fixture in the wrong area can reduce the lifespan of your heater and air conditioner, lead to insufficient HVAC performance, and create the need for costly system repairs. Read on to find out why proper thermostat placement is so important.

Location Can Impact the Accuracy of Temperature Readings

The thermostat is basically the brain of your entire HVAC system. It assesses its surroundings and then tells your heating and cooling equipment what to do. Although you have the power to set or program your thermostat to maintain the ideal indoor temperature, if this device isn’t reading temperatures accurately, nothing will feel like it should.

For instance, during winter, if your thermostat is installed in an especially sunny location, it may read the indoor temperature as being much higher than it actually is. As long as the thermostat is being bathed in direct sunlight, it won’t be able to detect how cold the building’s interior happens to be. At times like these, you might glance at your thermostat and think that your home feels a lot cooler than the temperature reading suggests. However, unless you crank the thermostat way up, your heating system won’t turn on.

This can also be a problem when your thermostat is near other fixed heat sources. It should never be too close to an oven or any other heat-generating appliance. These things can also impact the efficacy and performance of your cooling system in spring and summer. Even though your living environment might not be excessively warm, inaccurate thermostat readings caused by outside heat sources will cause the air conditioner to turn on.

Areas With Fluctuating Temperatures Should Also Be Avoided

Not only should you avoid installing your thermostat on walls that are regularly exposed to direct sunlight and near heat-generating appliances, but you should also avoid areas with fluctuating temperatures. These include areas near:

  • Windows
  • Doors
  • Drafty basements
  • Garages

Each time a window or door is opened, the temperature in the immediate area will go up or down. When temperature changes are significant, they’ll constantly trigger your heating or cooling system into action even when HVAC-supported temperature control isn’t really necessary.

Your HVAC System Could Become Over-Worked

HVAC systems use the least amount of energy and sustain the least amount of wear when they’re able to establish moderate temperatures indoors and maintain them with minimal work. Constantly cycling off and on places a tremendous amount of strain on heaters and air conditioners. In some instances, this can lead to icing, overheating, and other forms of system malfunction. Installing a thermostat correctly from the very outset can make your home heating and cooling equipment last a lot longer. This, however, can be challenging to do on your own if you have a zoned HVAC system and multiple thermostats to put in.

It’s also important to note that thermostat placement may need to be revisited over time. This could be the case if you’ve recently removed any major source of shade in your yard or added or moved a heat-generating appliance. Seemingly minor changes that you make in the layout and interior design of your property can have a major impact on the accuracy of your thermostat and its overall performance.

Incorrect Thermostat Placement Can Result in Higher Energy Bills

Having your thermostat installed in the wrong place can also cause your home heating and cooling bills to skyrocket. The carbon footprint for your household will rise, and your HVAC repair costs will likely increase as well. Worse still, even as you pay more to heat or cool your home, you’ll enjoy far less comfort all around.

Avoid Increased HVAC Wear by Having Your Thermostat Professionally Installed

For superior results, always have your thermostat installed by licensed HVAC professionals. Not only can seasoned technicians choose the right locations for these devices, but they can also help you choose the best thermostat type for your home and energy-saving goals and specific HVAC system.

At Reed Service Company, we’ve been providing reliable, affordable HVAC services since 1974. Homeowners throughout the greater Beaumont area can turn to us for indoor air quality services, emergency heating and AC repair, and top-rated geothermal systems and heat pumps, among other things. If you need to have your thermostat replaced or installed, call us today to schedule an appointment.

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