Good points, sealing gaps definitely helps. But honestly, if you're serious about efficiency, don't underestimate smart thermostats. I put one in a rental property and tenants loved the comfort boost—plus my energy bills dropped noticeably. Worth considering alongside your sealing efforts...
"I put one in a rental property and tenants loved the comfort boost—plus my energy bills dropped noticeably."
That's pretty encouraging to hear... I've been on the fence about smart thermostats since moving into my new place. Sealing gaps definitely made a difference, but I still feel like I'm constantly tweaking the thermostat manually. Did you find it easy to set up and use, or was there a bit of a learning curve at first? I'm not exactly tech-savvy, haha.
I was skeptical about smart thermostats too, seemed a bit gimmicky at first. Setup wasn't bad though—honestly took me longer to find my screwdriver than to get the thing installed. The initial tweaking can be annoying, but after a week or two it pretty much figures out your schedule. Still not convinced it's life-changing, but definitely beats fiddling with the dial every hour...
Glad to hear the setup went smoothly for you—mine was pretty similar, minus the screwdriver hunt (I keep mine in the kitchen drawer, always disappears anyway...). Honestly, I get why you're still on the fence about it being life-changing, but for me, the convenience factor alone made it worth it. I used to constantly forget to turn down the heat when leaving for work, and coming home to a stuffy house was the worst. Now, it just knows when I'm out and adjusts itself.
Also, have you checked out the energy reports yet? At first, I thought they were gimmicky too, but seeing exactly where and when I was wasting energy nudged me to tweak my habits. Not saying it saved me a fortune, but my bill definitely dropped enough to notice. Give it a few months—you might be surprised how much you end up appreciating the little things it does automatically.
I was skeptical about the energy reports at first too, but after a couple billing cycles, I noticed a modest yet consistent drop in my expenses. It's not groundbreaking, but every bit counts when you're budgeting carefully...worth sticking with it for a while longer.
