Choosing the right thermostat for your home and cottage
As technological advancements are inundating our lives, we have more options to automate our homes and cottages. But choosing the right thermostat, is crucial to maintaining your property’s temperature throughout some difficult circumstances when dealing with rural properties.
Programmable Wifi Thermostats (PWT) offer several benefits over conventional thermostats in a cottage setting, including the ability to monitor and customize temperature settings for different times of the day and week, modify temperature according to local weather conditions as well as other functions. This can help to save energy and money by reducing heating and cooling costs when the cottage is unoccupied. Additionally, programmable thermostats can be controlled remotely using a smartphone or tablet, allowing you to adjust the temperature from anywhere.
However, there are also some potential drawbacks to using a PWT in a cottage. One of the main concerns is the backup battery life. PWT's typically have a backup battery that lasts for up to 3 hours in the event of a power failure. Once the battery is depleted, the PWT will need to be recharged to a base level and/or reconnected to your wifi before it can begin to function in some cases. This can be problematic in a remote cottage setting where power outages are common, and in the winter your cottage may not be easily accessible.
Conventional thermostats, on the other hand, typically have an external backup battery that allows the furnace to recover immediately to its pre-programmed mode after a power failure. These batteries last up to 6 months to a year. This means that the heating system will continue to operate properly after there is a power outage, without the need for manual intervention.
In terms of pre-programmability, PWT's can be set up to gradually increase or decrease the temperature in the cottage before occupants arrive, ensuring a comfortable environment upon arrival. They also have a lot of “smart” features for the tech-savvy. Conventional thermostats obviously do not have all of these features, and sometimes temperature adjustments must be made manually.
Overall, both programmable and conventional thermostats have their advantages and disadvantages in a cottage. The decision to use one over the other will depend on your specific needs and preferences, existing winterization level, accessability, as well as the reliability of the power supply grid in the area. Many areas were hit in 2022 with no power for over 3 weeks at a time because of storms.
We ourselves have now experienced burst water lines and washing machine leaks as a result of PWT's not recovering after power failures at clients cottages.
Consider your options carefully.
