Season’s greetings from EnergyHub. We want to make sure you and your families have an energy-efficient holiday season, and one of the best ways to do that is to only use your thermostat’s Hold function when you really need it.

For many people, the remainder of 2012 includes time at home with family and friends. On those days when you’re not going to work, it’s very tempting to use your thermostat’s Hold function to keep your home at a constant temperature.

How tempting is the Hold function? Let’s take a look at what happened during Thanksgiving this year among the thermostats connected to EnergyHub’s Mercury platform.

Compared to the Monday after Thanksgiving, Hold usage increased substantially during the Thanksgiving holiday, peaking at nearly 10% higher on the day after Thanksgiving.

It’s not surprising that people use Hold more when they are home from work, but here are a few ways you can still maximize your energy savings on those days:

• Set Away: Use the Set Away button on your Wi-Fi thermostat’s website or mobile application to quickly put all of your thermostats into an energy-saving mode when you leave the house to run errands or visit friends and relatives. You can use the End Away button before you return to ensure your house will be warm. (Don’t have a Wi-Fi thermostat yet? Head to your local Home Depot — they make great stocking stuffers.)
• Turn the Heat Down 2°: Chances are that you and your guests won’t notice if you turn down the thermostat a little, especially if you’re chasing after your nieces, nephews, children, or grandchildren (or baking delicious cookies in the oven). Try reducing your target setpoint by 2 °F.
• Get in the Zone: If you have multiple thermostats, make sure only the spaces that are going to be occupied all the time have Hold enabled. Just because you’re home all day doesn’t mean you need to heat your bedroom all day too.

Have other tips for saving energy during the holidays? Let us know at [email protected].

Happy holidays,
The EnergyHub Team