Venstar® recently announced that its ColorTouch® thermostat is being used by California-based Ideal Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical (Ideal), which provides plumbing, heating, HVAC, electrical and remodeling services to more than 5,000 homes each year. A LEEDS-certified contractor, Ideal sells highly energy-efficient equipment with the goal of significantly reducing energy costs while ensuring indoor comfort for its residential customers.

“Using programmable thermostats with high-efficiency HVAC equipment is the key to delivering exceptional energy savings for our customers. Venstar’s ColorTouch programmable Wi-Fi thermostat is easy to program and can be managed using Venstar’s free mobile app or browser-based Skyport Cloud Services, which enables our customers to significantly cut their energy costs,” said Matt Getz, HVAC department head and lead sales manager, Ideal Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical.

Challenge: Find Easy-to-Use, Affordable Thermostat to Reduce Energy Costs

Matt Getz, Ideal’s HVAC department head and lead sales manager, was challenged to find a Wi-Fi® thermostat that could be simple or sophisticated depending on the customers’ needs. He also wanted one that could be managed remotely with a mobile app as well as by Web browser.

Solution: Venstar’s ColorTouch Wi-Fi Residential Thermostat

Getz chose Venstar’s ColorTouch thermostat (Model T7850) for its easy-to-use, intuitive color touchscreen and its ability to be remotely controlled using Venstar’s Skyport® Cloud Services. With the free Skyport Mobile App, users can easily view and make changes to their thermostats whether they are away from home or just sitting on the couch. They can also monitor their energy usage, giving them more control over their energy costs each month.

ColorTouch features programmability for four periods per day: morning, daytime, evening and nighttime. When the thermostats are installed, the Ideal team programs them to accommodate each customer’s individual needs to ensure energy efficiency while maintaining indoor comfort. Most of their customers want their ColorTouch thermostats programmed based on their work weeks. For those who are at home during the day, it’s programmed for their lifestyles. When their schedules deviate, it’s easy for them to select “Home” or “Away” on the mobile app or the thermostat itself.

Ideal’s customers also love the ColorTouch thermostat’s ability to function as a digital picture frame, enabling them to upload up to 100 of their favorite photos. They love to see photos of their vacations, kids, grandkids and pets on the thermostat screen, making it wall art when not in thermostat display mode. Faceplates are also available in a variety of colors, including woodgrain, making the thermostat look just like a picture frame. A simple touch to the screen puts it back in thermostat display mode.

For those who elect not to use the digital picture frame feature, the thermostat can be set up to be viewed in a variety of modes, from simple stat mode with easy-to-read numbers to a robust screen with easy access to all the features. The backlight can be set at the customer’s preferred brightness and can also be set to very dim or completely dark at night for sleeping.

ColorTouch has built-in non-volatile memory, so in the event of a power outage, the thermostat programming stays intact. As well, it is designed to automatically change the time for daylight savings time. This saves the Ideal team and their customers money and resources as they do not need to go to each customer’s home to change the thermostat’s time twice per year.

Results: Reduces Energy Costs by Up to 65 Percent With High-Efficiency HVAC Systems

According to Getz, his residential customers are enjoying up to 65 percent savings in energy costs with ColorTouch thermostats when used with high-efficiency HVAC equipment. “ColorTouch enables us to program the HVAC system for maximum efficiency while achieving indoor comfort for our customers. This can result in up to 65 percent savings in their monthly energy costs over their older HVAC equipment and thermostats,” Getz said.

About IDEAL Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical

In business since 1960, Ideal Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical is devoted to delighting its customers with courteous service, quality products, excellent workmanship and fair prices. Many of Ideal’s customers come from referrals, word of mouth, multigenerational families, and repeat business. Ideal is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Venstar Inc.

Venstar Inc. is a leading thermostat and energy management system (EMS) manufacturer, known for providing value to its customers via ease of use and installation, proven cost savings, improved energy efficiency, quality and reliability. Founded in 1992, Venstar is one of the largest thermostat suppliers in the world and designs and produces Venstar-branded products, as well as OEM thermostat products for the biggest names in HVAC. Venstar’s Surveyor is a leading energy management system, typically saving small-box retailers 20-35 percent of their energy costs, which translates to tens of millions of dollars in savings each year and dramatic reductions in CO2 emissions. Surveyor currently controls the energy usage of 30,000+ retail locations across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

For more information, visit Venstar: www.venstar.com.