What Is Thermal Management in the Home?
Key takeaways:
• Thermal management at home means controlling the indoor temperature and minimizing heat loss.
• Making energy-efficient home improvements can enhance comfort and save energy.
• Energy-efficient heating and cooling systems play a key role.
By Anne Fonda
The term thermal management is most commonly used in commercial HVAC applications, such as the industry’s first comprehensive thermal management system reference design, specifically designed for NVIDIA AI data centers, developed by Trane Technologies.
While your home doesn’t compare to a data center, some of the thermal management principles apply. Thermal management for a home involves controlling the indoor air temperature to enhance comfort, improve energy efficiency, and extend the lifespan of your residential heating and air conditioning system.
What are the key parts of home thermal management?
When building a new home, you can build thermal management into the home design, from planning for passive solar heating, choosing materials designed to hold or release heat, HVAC system design, and much more.
“Maintaining proper thermal management in the home is much easier today than when I first entered the industry. Advances in insulation materials, equipment design, and system controls have made a significant difference.
In addition, ensuring that ductwork is properly insulated when located in unconditioned spaces, and maintaining adequate ventilation where equipment is installed, can further improve heat transfer and system efficiency.”
-Kimberly Sexton, Senior Systems Engineer
For most people, you’ll need to assess your existing home. We believe homeowners should start with a home energy audit. Your utility company may offer this service for free, and it can help identify which of these home improvements could make the biggest difference.
1. Caulking and sealing
Do you feel a draft of cold or hot air around your doors and windows? Can you see daylight? Some DIY caulking, sealing, and weatherstripping around doors and windows (including the garage) can help minimize heat loss/heat gain.
2. Insulation
Insulating goes hand-in-hand with sealing gaps. Using recommendations from your home energy assessment, add insulation to your attic, basement/crawl space, and garage. Get some tips from ENERGY STAR®
3. Managing solar heat gain
This simply means controlling the amount of heat from sunlight that enters your home. Some ways to do this include:
- Planting shade trees
- Installing window or patio door awnings for sun-facing windows
- Closing blinds and curtains during the day in the summer and keeping them open in the winter
- Upgrading your windows
4. New windows, doors, and skylights
Springing for replacement windows and doors can be a pricey proposition. Try sealing and caulking first. The size of your home, how many windows you have, and whether they’re standard size or custom can greatly impact the cost of this project.
Opt for ENERGY STAR®-certified windows. Consider replacing the windows on one side of the house first and the other side next year, if you need to split the project up.
By replacing old single-pane windows with new double-paned windows with the required Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) for your climate zone, you can reduce the heat gain, protect your furnishings, and increase your comfort.
Visit ENERGY STAR® for more information.
“Adopting integrated HVAC ventilation solutions, optimizing temperature schedules, and utilizing programmable thermostats are also excellent ways to help reduce energy consumption and lower utility bills.”
-Kimberly Sexton, Senior Systems Engineer
5. Energy-efficient HVAC system paired with a smart thermostat
If you have an old (15+ years) HVAC system and your utility bills keep going up, it may be time to replace your system with a new energy-efficient HVAC system. Today’s systems are much more efficient and can help increase your comfort while saving you money on your heating and cooling bills, even in extreme outdoor temperatures.
Work with an HVAC professional to determine what AC unit, heat pump, furnace, or air handler combination would be best for your home and your climate and humidity levels. Brief yourself on the important HVAC efficiency terms so you have an idea of your options. Add a smart thermostat to the system (required, in some cases) to get the biggest benefits.
In addition to helping you save on your heating and cooling costs, an American Standard smart thermostat allows you to control your system remotely via the Home App, and allows your dealer to monitor your system remotely and even troubleshoot remotely if you give the proper permissions.
Learn more about American Standard Diagnostics.
If you can make all of the upgrades in the course of a year, great. Otherwise, spread them out, but start with sealing, caulking, and weatherstripping around windows, doors, and skylights to prevent heat loss. Get more tips from the Department of Energy (DOE).
What are the benefits of home thermal management?
There are 3 main benefits of home thermal management.
1. Reduced energy consumption
By keeping warm air inside in the winter and cool air inside in the summer and keeping the outdoor air outside where it belongs, your HVAC system doesn’t need to work as hard to heat or cool your home. You can save even more energy with a newer, energy-efficient HVAC system.
2. Cost savings with lower energy bills
This goes hand in hand with reduced energy consumption. Use less energy, pay less to the utility company. By making energy-saving home improvements, you can save money on your energy bills for years to come.
3. Enhanced comfort
OK, depending on your financial situation and priorities, this may be the #1 benefit for you and your family. But saving money and enhancing comfort? It’s a win-win. By eliminating drafts with insulation, sealing, new doors and windows, and upgrading your HVAC system, you take control of your home comfort.
How much can conscious home thermal management save me?
Your actual savings will vary based on the existing condition of your home and which energy-efficient home improvements you undertake. Your savings will be greater if you currently have a very drafty house and you seal up all the gaps and add insulation.
In addition, if you have an old and failing HVAC system, replacing it with an energy-efficient HVAC system can save you money on your heating and cooling bills while increasing your comfort. The table below shows projected savings as estimated by the DOE and ENERGY STAR®.
| Energy Saving Tip | Potential Savings on Heating & Cooling Costs |
| Seal and caulk gaps around windows, doors, and plumbing lines | 15-20% |
| Add more insulation to the attic, garage, basement, or crawl space | Up to 20% |
| Replace single-pane windows | Up to 12% based on your region |
| Upgrade the HVAC system | Savings will vary based on the efficiency of the old and new systems |
| Lower thermostat 7-10° F for 8 hours | Up to 10% |
| Install a smart thermostat | About 10%, greater savings with greater energy efficiency |
Schedule HVAC maintenance or a free quote on a new system today
Regular HVAC maintenance is key to system efficiency. To keep your system running at peak performance, schedule heating and cooling system maintenance in the fall before heating season begins and in the spring before cooling season begins.
If you have an old HVAC system (15+ years old), you could increase your energy efficiency and comfort by upgrading your system. Your local American Standard dealer can help you with maintenance, repair, and new system installation. Reach out today.
Anne Fonda, Content Writer
A Content Writer with Trane Technologies, Anne Fonda researches topics and writes for Trane® and associated residential HVAC brands. She works in collaboration with Trane Technologies subject matter experts, offering easy-to-understand, informative content on complex topics. Her goal is to help consumers make informed decisions on the products and services they need.
She has written for HVAC and other service provider websites for over 16 years. Before transitioning to web content writing, Anne had a 14-year stint as an award-winning journalist. She graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism.
When she’s not working, Anne enjoys playing word games, reading, gardening, spending time with family, and visiting gardens and museums.
Expert review by Kimberly Sexton, Senior Systems Engineer
