How To Make Old Furnace More Efficient

furnace service

Do you have an old furnace that is still in great shape, but you wish it could perform better? Here are tips given by furnace service technicians on how to make old furnace more efficient:

Tune it up

When was the last time you gave attention to your appliance? If it has been long, it’s time to give it some TLC. Hire an experienced furnace technician and have them tune up the appliance.

Tuning up a furnace means inspecting all areas of the appliance and fixing the problematic ones. For the best outcome, work with experienced professionals that know what they are doing. The last thing you want is to hire a contractor that causes more problems than were originally there.

Seal it up

For your old appliance to function efficiently, you need to make its work easier. One of the ways to do it is to seal all the areas where the warm air might be escaping. This calls for you to find all the cracks and gaps around the walls, doors, and windows and seal them.

Thankfully, you can easily do this. One of the things you should do is wrap your windows in shrink-wrap and seal the leaks around the door with weather stripping.

Inspect all house areas from the attic to the basement and seal any leaks that you might come across.

Windows are notorious for losing warm air, so pay attention to yours and ensure that only little warm air is lost.

Pay attention to the flame. Is it bent? This might be a sign of draft. If you find any draft, seal the window with specially designed shrink-wrap kits.

For the outside window frames, re-caulk them. For the best results, do the re-caulking when the temperatures are warmer. If it’s cold but you need re-caulking, use a blow dryer to heat the surface.

The final thing to do is to replace the weather stripping. To tell whether the stripping is functioning properly, go outside with a handheld dryer and run it along the door with your partner on the inside, checking for hot air getting into the house.

If there are any drafty conditions, replace the weather stripping. As a rule of thumb, use a high-quality material that won’t come apart after a short time.

Install a programmable thermostat

You might be wondering how a programmable thermostat will help your old furnace function better, right? Well, a programmable thermostat allows you to easily customize your temperature settings at different times throughout the day so you have less energy when you are sleeping or not at home.

When you set up the thermostat properly, experts report that you can save up to 15% of your energy bills.

If you have a larger budget, you should go for a wi-fi thermostat that allows you to control the heat settings from anywhere with an internet connection.

If you can’t afford a programmable or wi-fi thermostat, make it a habit of lowering your thermostat settings at night. Studies show that you save up to 10% of your energy use each year when you lower the thermostat for six hours or more.

Heat the necessary areas.

If you visit most homes, you will find them heating even the stores and the extra bedrooms. This is wrong, and it isn’t efficient at all.

To increase the efficiency of your old appliance, make use of zoned heating. This is where you heat only the necessary areas. For example, if you are in the sitting area, heat this area only.

As you can guess, this means that you spend less energy and the furnace doesn’t work as hard to keep even the unnecessary areas warm.

Make use of the fans.

If your home already has ceiling fans installed, you can use them to circulate air, which comes in handy at easing the work of the furnace. During winter, furnace repair service Ronkonkoma recommends running the fans clockwise to draw the room’s air up and force the warm air down.

Install a new appliance

If you have done all of the above and your furnace is running inefficiently, it’s time to get a new one. When making the purchase, buy the right size. You also should ensure that it’s installed by a professional that knows what they are doing.

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