You set your new smart thermostat to a cozy seventy degrees, but you are still wearing a heavy sweater inside your own living room. You walk over to the screen, and the device insists the room is perfectly warm. When your smart thermostat displays the wrong temperature, your heating system works overtime, and your home feels incredibly uncomfortable. Thankfully, a few simple tweaks can easily get your climate control back on track.
Block Out Direct Sunlight
A smart thermostat reads the air temperature right where it lives on the wall. If a bright beam of afternoon sunshine hits the plastic casing, the internal sensors will bake. The device will think the entire house is boiling hot, and it will immediately shut off your furnace or blast the air conditioning. Take a look at your device during different times of the day. If sunlight hits the screen, you might need to use a small shade or move the unit to an other position.
Seal Wall Drafts Behind the Device
Every thermostat needs a small hole in the drywall so the control wires can connect to the back plate. Cold air from inside your wall cavity can easily leak through that hole and blow directly onto the temperature sensors. This hidden draft tricks the thermostat into thinking your home is freezing cold. The fix is incredibly simple. Pull the thermostat off the wall and apply a small piece of plumber’s putty around the wire hole. This completely seals the gap and blocks the phantom breeze.
Calibrate the Internal Sensors
Sometimes, the internal thermometer just needs a tiny adjustment. Most popular models like the Google Nest Thermostat or the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium allow you to manually calibrate the temperature reading inside the companion app. Grab a standard digital room thermometer and place it on a table near your smart device. Wait about ten minutes to get a true reading of the room. Open your smart home app, find the temperature calibration setting, and adjust the offset to match your standalone thermometer exactly.
Keep Heat Sources Far Away
Your thermostat cannot tell the difference between ambient room heat and a nearby lamp. If you place a bright halogen lamp, a television, or a warm Wi-Fi router directly underneath the wall unit, the rising heat will severely skew the readings. Treat your smart thermostat like a VIP. Give it plenty of empty space so it only measures the natural air circulating through your home.