Smart thermostats make running the air conditioning or even the heater far easier for businesses. But summer is a different game altogether. We can use summer thermostat tips for small businesses to help during the hotter months of the year.
Summer Thermostat Tips for Small Businesses
The best summer thermostat tips for small businesses can help save money while also keeping spaces comfortable. There is a very obvious and simple way to tie LED lighting into the costs of heating or cooling a business. In fact, multiple things factor into the temperature of a room, like lighting or people.
A room will be hotter with incandescent lighting and more people. Remove a couple of people, and the room will cool down. However, businesses don’t exactly want to limit how many people can be in their store at any given time. But we can also change lighting to LED lighting, which will lower the number of things adding heat to a space.
LED lighting doesn’t produce as much heat as traditional incandescent bulbs. The goal is to keep the temperature in a comfortable spot, and switching to LED lighting will help with the fluctuations.
Windows
The best summer thermostat tips for small businesses will make it so you won’t need to worry about the thermostat as often. Businesses will need to decide which works best for them. There are two ideals surrounding windows that can make a difference.
Summer means more sunshine which is cause for leaving the windows clear so the natural light can get through. Natural lighting means lower energy costs from lighting. However, switching to LED lighting means you won’t need to worry as much about lighting costs.
That brings us to the other option, blocking windows as much as possible, so the sunlight doesn’t increase the temperature inside. Both clearing and blocking the windows will affect energy costs, do what works for you.
Maintenance
Another very important one of the summer thermostat tips for small businesses is to maintain appliances. The AC unit needs to be maintained to operate flawlessly. An AC unit that works ideally will not need as much energy, which means lower energy costs.
Unfortunately, businesses don’t enjoy spending money preemptively in most situations. But AC units should be maintained regularly. Professionals recommend cleaning AC units once a month during heavy use months or once every other month during light use months, and then once before the summer season.
This will help keep the AC unit operating perfectly and keep you aware of any issues that may arise.
Weatherproofing
The last tip before the actual thermostat tip is to weatherize your building. Old windows should be replaced, but that is an extreme measure. Instead, businesses can simply add weatherstripping around doors and windows. The weatherstripping will help keep the temperature stable once you turn on the thermostat.
Businesses can also use plants to block windows naturally and create shade to keep the summer heat outside as much as possible. Weatherstripping is something business owners can often do on their own, which makes it more affordable. Of course, a professional can get the job done at a price but saving money is always the goal.
Adjust, Adjust, Adjust
Nothing would be better than just setting the thermostat and forgetting about it altogether. But the temperature outside is constantly changing from hour to hour. One of the most important summer thermostat tips for small businesses is to adjust and not aim for freezer temperatures.
Instead, we just want to make the space comfortable to be in during hotter days. That doesn’t mean making the room cold enough that employees will need to bring a sweater to work on a 110-degree day. Thermostats should be adjusted until you find a temperature that works for you and your employees.
Find the right temperature and then set that as the highest or lowest you would ever go with the thermostat. For example, most people set thermostats to 78 degrees during working hours and 85 degrees after hours. These are suggestions and should be starting places for your business.