A recent article in The News highlighted a study from the Energy Center of Wisconsin (ECW), which indicated that programmable setback thermostats may not provide the energy savings they seem to promise, and in some consumers’ hands, may actually result in slightly higher energy costs (“Study Questions Setback Thermostats,” December 15, 2000).
The study basically found that Wisconsin homeowners who learn how to program their setback thermostats would also set back temperatures with manual stats, and usually to the same degree of difference. Homeowners with little or no interest in energy conservation would resort to the “hold” function on programmable stats, bringing it back to a steady temperature with no setback.