Wednesday, November 24, 2010

What is the wiper in a thermostat? And how does it affect my electric bill?

I'm concerned about my heater coming on too much and making my electric bill too high. I'm sure it has something to do with the %26quot;wiper%26quot; inside the cover of the thermostat. But I don't know enough about it to know for sure. Can someone help me understand what the wiper is, and how it relates to my electric bill?What is the wiper in a thermostat? And how does it affect my electric bill?It could help to know the type of thermostat you have. I have never heard of a %26quot;wiper%26quot; in a thermostat but that doesn't mean there isn't something of that description in some of them. All thermostats work basically in the same manner... there's a sensor of some type that senses the ambient air temp, when it drops a certain number of degrees below the preset temp the unit sends a command to the furnace to come on. After the furnace heats up, the blower is tripped by a heat sensor in the furnace and operates until the ambient air temp reaches the preset limit. The unit then sends the command to the furnace to shut down. The blower continues to run until the temp in the furnace reaches the cut-off point then it shuts down. The sensors in modern digital thermostats are electronic whereas those in the older ones were mercury activated.



I doubt if your thermostat is responsible for making your energy bill too high, more than likely its the setting itself. If you want your furnace to operate less to save on your electric bill, I'd suggest that you reset the room temp to a lower setting. You'll be surprised how much you'll save by a lower setting even as little as two degrees.

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