The other day I had a surprising conversation with my friend Kevin. He's very concerned with the environment, and is always taking up a new crusade in order to protect the world we live in. Last month, he was refusing to use a dryer, while these days his plan is a little bit more surprising.
I met Kevin for lunch, and we chatted a bit to catch up on each other's lives. I mentioned that my roommates and I have been trying to conserve energy as much as possible since our heating bill is higher during the winter months.
"You don't have a programmable thermostat, do you?" Kevin asked me rather quickly.
Expecting to be reprimanded, I told him that our apartment came with a manual thermostat, and that we couldn't change it. To my surprise, Kevin looked relieved. I know how interested he is in saving the environment, so this was not what I was anticipating.
I asked Kevin why he was against programmable thermostats, and he told me that they only save energy and money in the homes where they're properly used. He said that in a lot of cases, these are set to be switched on all the time, and actually end up keeping temperatures higher and using more fuel.
Kevin said that in a house with multiple inhabitants, it's best to stick with a manual thermostat and simply have a policy that the last person home turns the heat down before they leave. I was thrilled to get this rewarding advice from Kevin, since this is already what we do in my house. It's nice to know that I'm doing my part for the environment in one small way.
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