The most reliable way to cut gas use without sacrificing comfort is to keep a comfortable occupied temperature, then schedule a modest setback while everyone is asleep or away for about eight hours. Program the thermostat to recover before people wake up or return. Start with a small change, review runtime and comfort data, and adjust for your household instead of chasing a universal temperature.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says people should set thermostats to whatever temperature they choose. Its 2024 Energy Saver guidance adds that setting back for at least eight hours a day can save as much as 10% per year on heating and cooling costs. That is an upper-bound, whole-cost estimate—not a promise of 10% less gas in every home.
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What temperature should you use?
There is no single setback temperature that is comfortable and efficient for every house. Insulation, outdoor weather, humidity, floor plan, clothing, health needs, and the type of heating equipment all change the result. A useful starting rule is to identify the lowest temperature your household can tolerate while sleeping or away, then raise the setting before the home is needed.
Set the occupied temperature by comfort
Choose the temperature that lets people sit, work, and sleep comfortably in the rooms they actually use. Record it as the thermostat’s occupied or comfort setting. Do not lower the occupied setting just to create a larger headline saving if residents respond by using space heaters, closing off rooms, or repeatedly overriding the schedule; those actions can erase the expected benefit.
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Use a modest setback for roughly eight hours
During a normal night or workday absence, schedule a modest reduction from the occupied setting for about eight hours. The DOE’s “at least eight hours” guidance refers to the duration of the setback, not a required number of degrees. If a large reduction causes long recovery periods, cold floors, or complaints, use a smaller reduction. A setback that the household leaves enabled is more useful than an aggressive setting that is constantly canceled.
Protect vulnerable occupants and rooms
Keep bedrooms, nurseries, rooms used by older adults, and areas containing temperature-sensitive belongings within their safe comfort range. If one room is consistently colder, use a compatible remote temperature or occupancy sensor, improve airflow, or address the building problem rather than lowering the whole-house setting.
Why lowering the setpoint can save gas
A building loses heat faster when the indoor-outdoor temperature difference is larger. Lowering the indoor target during sleep or an absence reduces that difference for several hours, so the furnace or boiler supplies less heat over the day. When the setpoint rises again, the system must replace the heat lost during the setback; the recovery does not automatically cancel the earlier savings because the home spent less time at the higher temperature.
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- High use of the scheduling feature of the T5 thermostat saved customers between 8 and 16% on heating and cooling bills. Dollar savings range based on nationwide average annual single-family detached home's heat and cooling bills; actual savings varies based on consumption.
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- 7-Day Flexible Scheduling or Location Based Temperature Control. It’s your choice. 7-day scheduling programs your thermostat. Geofence technology helps make you comfortable by using your smartphone’s location to know when you’re away and when you return.
- Auto Home and Away Mode. Enjoy ideal temperatures at home, then save when away.
- ENERGY STAR certified. Help save energy, track your heating and cooling with monthly energy reports and get personalized tips on reducing energy use.
What a smart thermostat changes
A programmable thermostat can run a timetable. A smart thermostat adds sensing, software, and reporting that can make the timetable easier to maintain and refine.
Schedules and adaptive routines
Most smart models let you create separate wake, away, home, and sleep periods for weekdays and weekends. Some learn preferred temperatures and occupancy patterns, then establish energy-saving periods automatically. Review any automatically created schedule before accepting it; a learning system cannot know about an irregular shift, a guest, or a room that must stay warm unless you tell it.
Geofencing
Geofencing uses household phones or another location signal to detect when people leave and return. It can start an away setback after the last person departs and preheat before someone arrives. Check how the system handles a phone left at home, a visitor, multiple residents, and location permissions. Keep a manual home or away control available for unusual days.
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Vacation mode can hold a lower heating target for a longer absence while maintaining a temperature intended to reduce frozen-pipe risk. The safe minimum depends on the building, pipe layout, weather, and insurance requirements. Before a winter trip, confirm the mode’s start and end times, verify that the thermostat remains connected, and ask a trusted person to check the property when severe weather is possible.
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Sensors and room balance
Remote temperature sensors can give the thermostat a reading from a bedroom or other priority room instead of relying only on the wall unit. Occupancy sensors can influence which rooms or periods receive priority. Sensor placement matters: do not put one above a radiator, in direct sun, near a draft, or behind furniture. A sensor can reveal a comfort imbalance, but it cannot fix blocked registers, poor insulation, or an undersized system.
Runtime and energy reports
Usage reports let you compare heating runtime, scheduled periods, outdoor conditions, and comfort complaints over time. Look for patterns across similar weather rather than judging a single cold day. A lower runtime is not automatically better if rooms are uncomfortable, and a longer runtime can be normal after a cold snap or a deep setback.
How to build a schedule that works
- Measure the baseline. For several ordinary days, note the occupied setting, when people are home, heating runtime if available, and any cold-room complaints. This gives you a comparison point.
- Open the schedule screen. In the thermostat or app, look for labels such as Schedule, Program, or Routine. Select separate weekday and weekend periods if your household follows different patterns.
- Enter the occupied period. Set the comfort temperature for the times people normally wake, return, and remain at home. Avoid creating many tiny periods; frequent transitions make the schedule difficult to audit.
- Add the sleep or away setback. Choose a modestly lower target for the continuous block when the home is empty or occupants are asleep. Begin conservatively and change only one variable at a time.
- Set recovery before the home is needed. End the setback early enough for the system to reach the occupied target by wake-up or arrival. If the thermostat offers “early start,” “smart recovery,” or an equipment-specific recovery option, read what it does before enabling it.
- Check exceptions. Add a temporary hold for a sick day, a guest, a school holiday, or an unusually late return. Confirm when the hold expires so it does not silently become the new permanent schedule.
- Review results. After at least a week with comparable weather, compare runtime, comfort, and gas bills or meter readings. Keep the change if comfort is acceptable; otherwise reduce the setback, shorten it, or investigate the building and equipment.
Compatibility: check before buying or installing
Most smart thermostats are designed for low-voltage wiring, but system controls differ. A thermostat intended for a conventional furnace may not control a boiler, two-stage furnace, heat pump, or radiant system correctly. Many models require a C-wire for continuous power, while others use an adapter or a manufacturer-specific solution.
- Identify whether the home has a gas furnace, gas boiler, heat pump, or another system.
- Photograph the existing thermostat terminals and wire labels before disconnecting anything.
- Confirm the number of heating and cooling stages and whether the system uses a heat-pump reversing valve, zone valves, or proprietary controls.
- Check for a C-wire, a compatible power adapter, or a stated battery configuration.
- Verify that the thermostat supports the boiler or furnace control voltage and accessories such as humidifiers or ventilators.
- Read the manufacturer’s compatibility checker and installation requirements; do not rely on wire colors alone.
- Use a qualified installer if wiring is unclear, the system is high-voltage, or the equipment has multiple zones or unusual controls.
An incompatible thermostat can cause short cycling, loss of heat, incorrect staging, or a system that will not start. Turn off power at the equipment before handling low-voltage wiring, and stop if the wiring does not match the documented configuration.
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Setback behavior by heating system
| System | What to verify | Setback and recovery consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Single-stage gas furnace | Low-voltage terminals, C-wire or approved adapter, and any central-air connection | A modest overnight or away setback is usually straightforward; watch for long recovery or repeated cycling. |
| Multistage or modulating gas furnace | Stage-control compatibility and the manufacturer’s recovery logic | A deep setback may force high-capacity recovery, which can be less efficient than maintaining a lower, steady output. Compare runtime and comfort. |
| Gas boiler or hydronic system | Boiler control type, zone valves, circulator controls, and location of the thermostat | Allow enough recovery time for water and rooms to warm. A sensor in a fast-warming hallway may not represent colder rooms. |
| Heat pump | Heat-pump support, auxiliary or emergency heat wiring, and outdoor-temperature settings | Recovery can trigger auxiliary heat or another high-capacity mode. Follow the equipment maker’s guidance and review auxiliary-heat runtime. |
| High-voltage electric or proprietary systems | Voltage and control protocol | Do not install a low-voltage smart thermostat unless a documented interface makes the system compatible. |
DOE smart-thermostat benchmarking found that higher-efficiency multispeed equipment may maintain comfort efficiently at low capacity, while setback recovery can activate a high-capacity, lower-efficiency mode. Owners of heat pumps, modulating furnaces, and other advanced systems should use the equipment-specific recovery settings and judge the result by both comfort and runtime.
How to evaluate an ENERGY STAR certified model
ENERGY STAR certification is a useful screening requirement because it is based on real-world field data and requires scheduling, energy-use feedback, utility-program capability, and heating-runtime savings criteria. The current heating criterion is a lower-95%-confidence weighted national-average annual heating-runtime reduction of at least 8%, with the weighted average of 20th-percentile savings at least 4%.
Those are certification benchmarks, not a guarantee for your house. Savings depend on whether the household uses the schedule, how long the home is vacant, the equipment, and local weather. ENERGY STAR estimates that homes with high heating and cooling bills or long daily vacancies may save approximately $100 per year with a certified smart thermostat. The estimate is not a quoted purchase price, rebate, or guaranteed payback period.
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Compare thermostats on the features that affect gas use
| Comparison question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Will it control your furnace or boiler and existing wiring? | Compatibility determines whether the system can stage, recover, and operate safely. |
| Does it support schedules, geofencing, occupancy sensors, and vacation mode? | These controls determine whether setbacks happen reliably during sleep and absences. |
| Does it report heating runtime and energy use? | Reports make it possible to test comfort and runtime rather than guessing. |
| How does recovery work with your equipment? | A high-capacity recovery can change the efficiency trade-off, especially for heat pumps and modulating systems. |
| Is it eligible for your utility’s programs? | Rebates or demand-response payments vary by utility, location, enrollment period, and equipment. |
| What privacy and account permissions are required? | Geofencing and cloud reports may require location data, an account, or internet access. |
| Can you install it safely? | Unclear wiring, zones, and proprietary controls can make professional installation worthwhile. |
| What is the total cost after verified rebates? | Use the current local rebate terms and installation cost, not an assumed national discount. |
Supporting measures that make a setback more comfortable
Keep filters and airflow under control
ENERGY STAR recommends checking filters monthly during heavy-use periods and replacing them at least every three months. A loaded filter restricts airflow, lengthens recovery, and can make some rooms feel cold. Use the filter size and rating specified for the equipment; a denser filter is not automatically better if the system is not designed for it.
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- ENERGY STAR certified smart thermostat for home that helps you save energy and stay comfortable.Connectivity : Wi-Fi - 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz, 802.11a/n 5 GHz Wi-Fi., Wireless interconnect : Bluetooth Low Energy Please refer to the product description section below for all applicable legal disclaimers.Product note: You can also check your system’s compatibility before purchasing a Nest thermostat with our online Nest Compatibility Checker on the Google Nest support page
- The Nest Thermostat is designed to work without a C wire in most homes, but for some systems, including heating only, cooling only, zone controlled, and heat pump systems, you’ll need a C wire or other compatible power accessory
- Nest Thermostat turns itself down when you leave, so you don’t waste energy heating or cooling an empty home. Lock feature: No
- Programmable thermostat that lets you create an energy efficient schedule in the Google Home app on your Android or iPhone
- Remote control lets family members change the thermostat temperature from anywhere on a phone, laptop, or tablet[1]
Service the equipment
An annual tune-up can identify ignition, burner, fan, control, and safety problems before winter demand exposes them. For boilers, service should include the controls and distribution system. If the thermostat shows unusually long calls for heat, frequent cycling, or a temperature that never reaches the target, arrange service rather than continually changing the schedule.
Seal and insulate ducts
ENERGY STAR says sealing and insulating ducts can improve HVAC efficiency by as much as 20%. This is especially relevant when ducts run through unheated attics, crawl spaces, or garages. Sealing leaks and balancing airflow can reduce room-to-room temperature differences, allowing a modest setback without making distant rooms uncomfortable.
Address the building envelope
Drafts around doors and windows, missing attic insulation, and unsealed penetrations increase heat loss. Weather-stripping, air sealing, and insulation improvements often provide more durable comfort gains than repeatedly adjusting the thermostat. Do not block combustion-air openings or exhaust vents while sealing drafts.
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- The house is cold at the scheduled wake time: end the setback earlier, reduce its size, check the early-start setting, and inspect filters and airflow.
- One room is always colder: check for closed registers, blocked returns, duct leakage, insulation gaps, and sensor placement before raising the temperature everywhere.
- The furnace runs for a very long time after recovery: compare the setback with the equipment manual, reduce the depth, and have the system checked if it cannot reach the target.
- The system cycles on and off rapidly: verify thermostat location, staging configuration, filter condition, and equipment sizing; short cycling is not a reason to create a larger setback.
- The thermostat loses power: confirm the C-wire or approved adapter, tighten connections with power off, and check whether the equipment’s control board provides the required power.
- Geofencing starts a setback while someone is home: add all residents’ phones, disable geofencing for irregular schedules, or use a manual home hold.
- Gas use does not fall: compare equivalent weather periods, confirm that the setback actually runs for the planned duration, and check whether auxiliary or high-capacity recovery is offsetting the expected reduction.
- A vacation setting threatens pipes: use the equipment maker’s freeze-protection guidance, consider local weather and plumbing layout, and arrange a property check during severe cold.
Putting the savings in perspective
ENERGY STAR reports that almost half of the average U.S. household’s annual energy bill—more than $900—goes to heating and cooling. A thermostat is only one part of that bill, so calculate a realistic benefit from the portion attributable to heating. For a rough planning estimate, multiply annual heating-and-cooling spending by the expected percentage reduction, then treat the result as uncertain rather than guaranteed. Include installation, any required adapter, subscription or account requirements, and the rebate terms that actually apply to your utility.
At national scale, an EPA and ENERGY STAR 2023 factsheet projected that if everyone used an ENERGY STAR certified smart thermostat, savings could reach 56 trillion British thermal units and $740 million per year. That projection describes aggregate potential, not an individual household’s result.
A repeatable test for your own home
- Run the existing routine long enough to establish typical runtime and comfort in similar weather.
- Apply one modest setback for the normal sleep or away period.
- Keep the occupied setting, schedule length, and recovery behavior documented.
- Compare runtime, gas use, outdoor temperatures, and comfort reports over multiple comparable periods.
- Keep the schedule only if the household remains comfortable and the data show a worthwhile reduction; otherwise make one small adjustment and test again.
This approach treats the thermostat as a control system rather than a magic gas-saving device. The best setting is the lowest occupied-and-away combination that your people, rooms, and heating equipment can support consistently.
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