Dialing back starts adding up

Two things I once swore I would never do: ask for directions or read an owner's manual.

I still stand by my first declaration and will admit I never stop and ask for directions. Give me a map, a compass, a GPS and I'm happy. Asking a passerby and trusting their local knowledge? Not for me.

But I have become a convert to reading owner's manuals, and it was my digital thermostat that did the trick. And, according to the New York Times, it appears our federal government could stand to read the owners manual on a few of its thermostats as well. The NYT found that the Department of Energy could save a lot of money (your money, in fact) by installing and setting programmable thermostats in some of its buildings.

I endorse this advice, because I have seen for myself how effective the new digital thermostats can be -- when properly used. This is where a case of owner's manual aversion cost me money, and wasted a lot of energy.

The digital thermostats are great, and can be set to raise and lower the heat several times during the course of the day, warming the house up in the morning, then scaling back while you're out during the day -- and really cutting the temperature at night when everybody's tucked in 'til morning. A rule of thumb is that every one degree of lowering the temperature in winter is worth about two percent in heating costs.

My own non-scientific survey found this saves me about 10 percent on my natural gas use, which is pretty good considering absolutely zero effort or discomfort are involved -- with one exception.

I had to break down and actually read the manual and go through 10 or so gruelling minutes of programming the thermostat. After a brief few hours of recovery (a nap), I was able to return to my daily routine and start enjoying greater efficiency as well as spending less money on keeping my house warm. This all came after about two years of having the programmable thermostat ticking away like clockwork -- without being programmed. So, instead of magically dialling the temperature up and down, my un-programmed thermostat ran one, constant, money-gulping temperature day or night. As the philosopher Homer (Simpson) would say, "Doh!"

If you have an older thermostat, consider upgrading to a new digital model. If you have a digital thermostat, give that owner's manual a look and get it programmed. A range of no more than eight to 10 degrees from the lowest setting (night-time temperature) and the warmest temperature (early morning wakeup or dinner time) is best, with anything greater often losing some efficiency and making it tough on the furnace.

Now, about asking for directions . . . no way!