What Are the Recommended Thermostat Settings for Summer and Winter Vacation?
Learn what temperature to keep your house at when on vacation, whether you’re at the beach in the summer or hitting the ski slopes in winter.
By Anne Fonda
Before you load up the car and leave the house on your well-deserved vacation, plan to save some money on your energy bills while you’re away by giving your heating and cooling system a much-needed rest.
When you’ve gone on vacation, there’s no reason you should be heating and cooling your home to the temperatures that you would if the home was occupied. That’s a waste of energy and a waste of your money.
But what are the safe and recommended thermostat settings for summer and winter vacations? Let’s take a look.
What temperature to set thermostat when away in summer?
The best thermostat setting for summer vacation may be the same as the setting for when you’re away at work. To save energy while you’re away, set the thermostat 5-10 degrees warmer than what you have it set to when you’re at home. So, if you usually keep the AC set at 75, set it at 80-85 degrees while you’re away.
If you’re taking your pets with you, you may be able to set the temperature a little higher. But that may not hold true if your fur baby is staying behind. For example, you wouldn’t want to leave your Siberian Husky (or your pet sitter) in a house that was 80 degrees!
We don’t recommend higher than 85 degrees because then the AC might not come on often enough to dehumidify your home. If you live in an area like Houston or Florida where the summers are hot and humid, setting the thermostat too high can lead to optimal conditions for mold and mildew growth to begin.
What temperature to set thermostat when on vacation in winter?
In general, industry experts say you can set your thermostat between 50 and 65 degrees when you’re away in winter. But don’t go lower than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, or you run the risk of pipes freezing in extreme cold. Be sure to program the thermostat to warm up the house, starting about 12 hours before you plan to be home.
The best thermostat setting for winter vacation may also be the same as the setting for when you’re away at work or in bed asleep. But if you’re leaving your pets at home or have houseplants that need a minimum temperature of 60 degrees to survive while you’re gone, take that into account.
How to program your vacation thermostat settings
Depending on your thermostat, it may have something called Vacation Mode, or you can use the Away Schedule. You can also create a custom Vacation schedule. It’s up to you how you do it.
Just be sure you keep the house warm enough in winter to keep any plants alive or keep pipes from freezing. In summer, keep the house cool enough with low enough humidity that you don’t come home to a musty-smelling house.
Find your Trane thermostat owner’s manual or other brand manual and follow the directions you find there.
Couldn’t I just use the Hold setting?
You could use the Hold setting, but then your house will either be really cold or really hot when you get home and you’re unloading the car and figuring out what’s for dinner. Who needs that?
When you use a programmable, or ideally, a smart thermostat, you can tell the thermostat to start warming things up or cooling things down hours before you get home, so the temperature is just right when you get home.
Is it time to upgrade to a new thermostat?
Do you have an old manual thermostat? Would you like to be able to control your HVAC system from anywhere with your smartphone? Then it’s time to think about upgrading to a Trane smart thermostat. We have smart thermostats that are compatible only with Trane systems, but we also have units that are compatible with other HVAC brands.
In addition to connected control through the Trane Home App, with a Trane smart thermostat, you can opt into Trane Diagnostics, which gives your dealer remote monitoring access, much like a company might monitor your home security system.
Your dealer gets notifications when it’s time for HVAC maintenance or there’s a problem with your system. They can sometimes fix the problem remotely, but may need to schedule an on-site visit with an HVAC technician. This can give you peace of mind when you’re on vacation, knowing that if the heat or AC goes out, your dealer has got your back.
Contact your local Trane dealer to get started.
Anne Fonda, Content Writer
A Content Writer with Trane Technologies, Anne Fonda researches topics and writes for Trane® and associated residential HVAC brands. She works in collaboration with Trane Technologies subject matter experts, offering easy-to-understand, informative content on complex topics. Her goal is to help consumers make informed decisions on the products and services they need.
She has written for HVAC and other service provider websites for over 16 years. Before transitioning to web content writing, Anne had a 14-year stint as an award-winning journalist. She graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism.
When she’s not working, Anne enjoys playing word games, reading, gardening, spending time with family, and visiting gardens and museums.
Expert review by Michael Morey, Product Management Leader, Hardware at Trane Technologies – Digital
Explore air conditioners
Browse our highly rated SEER2 products to find the perfect one for your home.
Related Articles
