You know what we hate at Koopman Lumber? Wasting hard earned money. That’s why we’re looking today at a quick way to save some significant cash year-round with digital thermostats. They are one of the hottest products on the market for improving home energy efficiency. “But Koopman Lumber, I’ve never dealt with electrical work!” you say. Never fear! We’ve written this blog with you in mind and can guarantee this is as simple as can be.

Difficulty: Easy
Time: 30 Minutes

Supply List:

• New digital thermostat
• Screwdriver
• Drill
• Screw Anchors
• Masking tape
• Pencil
• Torpedo Level
• Safety Glasses

If you have an older home, chances are you’re very familiar with the image on the right. These old analog thermostats have been a mainstay in heating people’s homes for years, but in today’s efficiency-conscious market, they don’t quite make the cut. Between inflated heating bills from inaccurate readouts and forgetting to turn your thermostat down and wasting all that valuable heat, these analog thermostats can hinder any homeowners efforts to increase energy efficiency.

Digital thermostats feature two significant improvements that will make your life simpler. First, they provide a more accurate readout, which is less likely to be either misread by you or just be plain wrong. To give you an idea of just how important this is, consider the following example. A thermostat that is off by 3 degrees will increase your heating bill by between 3-7% throughout the winter! That can mean hundreds of extra dollars for some people.

Second, digital thermostats allow you to program them. No more worrying about changing the thermostat every time you leave the house! Just tell the thermostat the temperatures you want the house to be at a specific time, and viola, it’s done! What a simple and efficient way to save money.

Let’s dive into how to replace your old analog thermostat!

STEP FOUR: LABEL THE WIRES

When you unscrew the wall mount, you should see several wires running to the back of the old thermostat. With a piece of masking tape, label each wire according to its terminal. If you’re unsure of what that means, take a look at the photo on the right. See how each wire goes to a set screw? And how each screw has a letter next to it? These are the terminals. This is a significant step because you will need to attach the wires to the correct terminal later! Once you’re done labeling use a screwdriver to disconnect the wires. Then take another piece of masking tape and secure the wires to the wall, so they don’t slide back down behind the wall.

Note: There may be extra wires that aren’t in use and that’s OK, simply disregard them!