mrsrafamarquez asked:


I have a vacation home in Utah that is vacant & with no furniture. I know I’m supposed to have the heat on to avoid frozen pipes. I know nothing about programmable thermostats/furnaces. My bill was $160 this month & need to adjust my settings. What temperature would be appropriate for an empty home to avoid frozen pipes? Also, how do thermostats work? For example, let’s say I wanted to keep the house at 55 degrees & not any hotter to avoid an $$ bill. How do I adjust the setting? Like, if the heat turns on when it reaches 55 F degrees, then for how long does it heat the house before the heat turns off & at what temperature does it heat it when it turns on when it reaches 55 F degrees?
I read this online but don’t know what they mean:
“The savings depend on the temperature that the unit is set back to & the length of time for the “setback” periods. Obviously, a setback of 10° saves more energy than one of 5°. Similarly, a 10 hr setback period saves more than a 5 hr setback.”
Thanks!
Thanks for the replies.

I have a programmable thermostat installed already since the house is new.

I also have no water service so everything water-related is shut off. So if the water is shut, pipes won’t freeze, right?

I guess my question was, once I set the
temperature to be 55 F constantly, when the heater turns on, does it stay on until the house is back to the 55 F temperature and then shuts off?

Also, what does ” setback the temperature” mean?

Is it true if there are unused rooms(all 6) in the house, that covering the air/heating vents will help preserve heat?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the confusion; I’m young and a girl so I know nothing about this.

Randall