{"id":520530,"date":"2022-12-02T21:43:04","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T18:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-much-money-does-turning-down-the-thermostat-actually-save\/"},"modified":"2022-12-02T21:43:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T18:43:04","slug":"how-much-money-does-turning-down-the-thermostat-actually-save","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-much-money-does-turning-down-the-thermostat-actually-save\/","title":{"rendered":"#How much money does turning down the thermostat actually save?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25780415631\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25780415631\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-much-money-does-turning-down-the-thermostat-actually-save\/#%E2%80%9CHow_much_money_does_turning_down_the_thermostat_actually_save%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How much money does turning down the thermostat actually save?&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_much_money_does_turning_down_the_thermostat_actually_save%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How much money does turning down the thermostat actually save?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2022\/how-much-money-does-tu.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2022\/how-much-money-does-tu.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"The Smart Energy Research Lab, or SERL, carries out academic research using smart meter data. Credit: SERL, Author provided\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2022\/how-much-money-does-tu.jpg\" alt=\"How much money does turning down the thermostat actually save?\" title=\"The Smart Energy Research Lab, or SERL, carries out academic research using smart meter data. Credit: SERL, Author provided\" width=\"800\" height=\"413\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                The Smart Energy Research Lab, or SERL, carries out academic research using smart meter data. Credit: SERL, Author provided<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The unprecedented rise in energy costs this winter has many people asking how to reduce their bills. In a typical UK home, around 80% of the total energy used in a year goes towards heating space and water, so any change in heating makes a big difference.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                The most common advice is to reduce your thermostat temperature. Worryingly (because of climate change) and fortunately (because of the cost of living crisis), the autumn so far has been extremely mild. But temperatures are now beginning to drop. Colleagues and I have therefore looked into our data on home energy use to see how much energy is typically used at different thermostat temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> has already reported some estimations of cost savings associated with changing thermostat temperature. But these are <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly based on theoretical savings using <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/128720\/6923-how-much-energy-could-be-saved-by-making-small-cha.pdf\">energy models<\/a>, and their calculations rely on many assumptions about how the home is used. <\/p>\n<p>Instead, we looked at how much energy was actually used in 2021 in homes with thermostats set to different temperatures. (Temperatures in 2021 were <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/about-us\/press-office\/news\/weather-and-climate\/2021\/2021-a-year-in-weather-a-review\">close to the 30-year average<\/a>.) <\/p>\n<p>We then calculated how much this would cost using the current price cap for an average customer. The government&#8217;s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/energy-bills-support\/energy-bills-support-factsheet-8-september-2022\">Energy Price Guarantee<\/a> limits prices to \u00a30.34 per kilowatt-hour for electricity, \u00a30.103\/kWh for gas, and standing charges of \u00a30.46\/day for electricity and \u00a30.28\/day for gas.<\/p>\n<p>To find the representative energy usage, we used data from the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/serl.ac.uk\/\">SERL Observatory<\/a>. This is a project involving a representative sample of 13,000 homes in Britain who have allowed us to access their smart meter readings and other contextual data for research for the public good (and to whom we are extremely grateful). For this analysis, we chose a subset of homes with gas central heating who answered a question in our survey asking what temperature their thermostat was set to during the winter.<br \/>\n                                            <!-- Google middle Adsense block --><\/p>\n<p>We found that for each 1\u2103 decrease in thermostat temperature between 22\u2103 and 18\u2103, an average home used around \u00a3130 less energy. That is based on the October 2022 price cap and a typically sized house (85m\u00b2 floor area\u2014the median in our sample and close to the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/725085\/Floor_Space_in_English_Homes_main_report.pdf\">national average<\/a>). <\/p>\n<p>Bigger homes stand to make greater savings from lower thermostat set points in absolute terms, though the relative savings will be fairly similar. For every square meter, on average households in our sample used around \u00a31.10 less gas for each 1\u2103 decrease. They also used 40p less electricity for each 1\u2103 and each square meter. <\/p>\n<p>The interaction between electricity and gas use in homes is complicated, but this electricity reduction is likely partly because boilers use electrical pumps to move water around the house and electrical fans to direct CO\u2082 and steam (released when gas is burned) outside of the house. It&#8217;s also partly because homes that have higher thermostat temperatures are more likely to be wealthier and have more electrical <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>liances. <\/p>\n<p>  <b>Your mileage may vary<\/b>  <\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to note that this does not necessarily mean your home would save this amount. Importantly, our data is observational: we can see the difference between groups of homes with different thermostat temperatures. We don&#8217;t directly see from our data what happens when people change their thermostat setting. This might be a bit different and will depend on the configuration and control of the heating system. <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2022\/how-much-money-does-tu-1.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2022\/how-much-money-does-tu-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Some homes retain heat better than others. Credit: Victor Habbick \/ shutterstock\">\n<figure class=\"article-img text-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2022\/how-much-money-does-tu-1.jpg\" alt=\"How much money does turning down the thermostat actually save?\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-left text-darken text-truncate text-low-up mt-3\">\n                Some homes retain heat better than others. Credit: Victor Habbick \/ shutterstock<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Important factors that will contribute to the amount of energy saved by reducing the thermostat temperature include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#13;<br \/>\nhow big your home is (bigger homes would save more, and smaller homes save less)<\/p>\n<p>&#13;\n<\/li>\n<li>&#13;<br \/>\nhow quickly your home loses heat<\/p>\n<p>&#13;\n<\/li>\n<li>&#13;\n<p>how many hours your heating is switched on for<\/p>\n<p>&#13;\n<\/li>\n<li>&#13;\n<p>how mild or cold the winter is<\/p>\n<p>&#13;\n<\/li>\n<li>&#13;\n<p>the tariff you have for your energy bills (some people may still be on previous tariffs).<\/p>\n<p>&#13;\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Finally, remember that dropping the temperature below 18\u2103 could impact your health so it is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/cold-weather-plan-cwp-for-england\">not recommended<\/a>, especially if you are at all vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>For those who want to experiment with dropping the thermostat a degree or two\u2014within a safe range\u2014this could lead to significant savings. This not only helps your finances, but also the whole country (by reducing government spending to fund the Energy Price Guarantee, and helping to reduce overall gas demand, as well as reducing carbon emissions).<\/p>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium my-4\">\n                                                Provided by<br \/>\n                                                                                                    The Conversation<br \/>\n                                                                                                        <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\"><br \/>\n                                                        <svg><use href=\"https:\/\/techx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v2\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/><\/svg><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n                                                This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/energy-bills-how-much-money-does-turning-down-the-thermostat-actually-save-194756\">original article<\/a>.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/194756\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>                                                 <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                 How much money does turning down the thermostat actually save? (2022, December  2)<br \/>\n                                                 retrieved  3 December 2022<br \/>\n                                                 from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2022-12-money-thermostat.html<\/p>\n<p>                                            This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n                                            part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/science\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news\/2022-12-money-thermostat.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How much money does turning down the thermostat actually save?&#8221; The Smart Energy Research Lab, or SERL, carries out academic research using smart meter data. Credit: SERL, Author provided The unprecedented rise in energy costs this winter has many people asking how to reduce their bills. In a typical UK home, around 80% of the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":520531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2022\/how-much-money-does-tu.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-520530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}