Should I set my thermostat back?

Is it better to set the thermostat to high temperatures while at work all day and cool the house when you get home to a comfortable temperature, or to keep the thermostat just a degree or two higher during the day so that the cooling unit doesn't have to work as hard during peak hours to cool the house?

Okay, so you're going to get two answers to this question. You're going to get my opinion, and then you're going to get what Energy Star tells you to do. Energy Star will say, yes, set the thermostat back while you're gone, and then when you come home, you'll save energy by doing it this way. I don't personally do that, especially on a 195-degree day. If you set that thermostat back, it's going to have a harder time to come up to temperature when you get home at 5:30, 6:00, because it's the hottest part of the day. So now you're running at top speed with everybody else on the hottest part of the day. So I wouldn't go with that method. I like keeping my home at a constant temperature unless I'm on vacation. So I keep my house at 75 all the time. I don't really vary from that. Well, let me go back. I do keep it a little cooler at nighttime. When it's time for bed, I yank it down just a little bit more. Because I like it being cool. But personally, I'm not a fan of the method of setting thermostat higher. Then when you come home, you're gonna have that challenge of catching up, and that's a hot day, and it's not gonna do it. I don't see where you're saving that much energy doing it that way. Again, that's just me. Energy Star, the energy department, will tell you yes, that is the right way to do it, and you need to do that to save energy. It's just a difference of opinion.