As the summer months approach, it’s almost impossible to deal with the fluctuating temperatures in the New York metropolitan area. In just the past week, the city has seen highs of 90 degrees and lows of 50. With a smart thermostat, you don’t have to play catch up. Your home is always at your ideal temperature and with a lending hand from some of your other technology—including your motorized window shades—you don’t have to expend ridiculous amounts of energy to stay cool. Below we highlight some of the best smart thermostat features that you can take advantage of this summer.

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Make it Easy to Set the Temperature

Traditional thermostats can be a hassle to program as you try to figure out what all the buttons on the panel mean. One of the coolest aspects of a smart thermostat is that it’s easy to manage from a mobile app or even through voice commands if you have Amazon Alexa. The app comes with simple graphics that let you choose a room, set the temperature, and turn fans on and off.

Access Your System on the Go

Since you can manage your climate control from a mobile app, you don't have to be home to make changes. As long as you have access to the internet, you can see what temperature each of your rooms is set too and make modifications if needed. Remote access is also ideal when you're heading back from work. You can change the thermostat on your commute, so your house is already at the perfect temperature when you get back.

This is especially useful now that we’re entering vacation season. Keep your Hamptons vacation home on energy-saving mode when you’re not there, then adjust the thermostat using your smartphone when you’re on the way over. It’ll be prepped and ready for you at a crisp 68 degrees when you arrive.

Conserve Energy with Away Settings

You can also program the thermostat to adjust at certain times. The most common uses of this are "Home" and "Away" settings. You can schedule the temperature to go up when you leave the house, so you don't waste energy when you're away. Program it to cool back down right before you return so it's at the ideal temperature by the time you get home.

Smart Thermostat vs. Climate Control

While you can buy a smart thermostat yourself, a professional climate control solution can optimize it by incorporating other technology. As the weather heats up in New York, your HVAC shouldn't have to cool down your home all by itself. Instead, it can partner with your motorized window shades. At the hottest time of day, it can direct the shades to close to reduce the amount of heat gain.

Large homes can also benefit from occupancy sensors. Instead of having to make adjustments or monitor multiple thermostats, you can have sensors take care of it for you. All you have to do is set the ideal temperatures for both used and unused rooms. The sensors will then automatically make the adjustments when someone leaves or enters the room.

Want to learn more about smart thermostats and how you could integrate them throughout your luxury home? Contact Audio Command Systems through our online form.