Even if you live in an area that experiences short winters, heating costs can add up quickly. Thankfully with a few simple changes, you can cut your energy use by a lot without making yourself less comfortable.
To help you out, here are tricks given by furnace repair service professionals on some of the changes you can make:
Turn the temperature down at night.
During the day, when you are in the house, set your thermostat to the temperature you like best. At night, turn it down by 10 to 15 degrees.
When you turn the temperature lower at night, you save money and have an easy time sleeping, as it has been shown that most people find it easier to sleep in a cooler room and keep warm using winter blankets or comforters.
As you can tell, it’s a hustle to keep changing the temperature setting of your old, traditional thermostat. To have an easy time, get a programmable or Wi-Fi thermostat, which automatically changes the temperature based on your schedule.
Put the fan on “Auto.”
Setting the HVAC fan to “On” can help keep cool air moving in the summer but can cause cold drafts in the winter.
To avoid this, change the setting from “On” to “Auto” so that the fan only runs when the heating system is on. This makes sure that your HVAC vents only let warm air out.
Get a new air filter.
If the air filter in your furnace or heat pump is dirty or clogged, it will have to work harder to keep your home comfortable. Like your car, when the engine works hard, it consumes more fuel.
To cut on the amount of fuel your appliance consumes, check the filter and replace it if needed.
If you have a fiberglass filter, you will need to change it every three months, but if you have a pleated or high-efficiency filter, you can get away with replacing it anywhere from six to twelve months.
Reverse your ceiling fan
Normally, a ceiling fan pushes air down, which makes the room feel cooler and helps cool air from the air conditioning system move around the room.
During the winter, the warm air from your furnace will naturally rise, making the air near the floor feel cooler. If you turn your ceiling fan around, it will pull air up. This will push the warm air out of the room and back down to the floor.
Stop drafts from windows.
Add curtains, shades, or heavy drapes to your windows and shut them at night to keep your heated air inside longer.
During the day, you should open the curtains to let the sun’s heat in through the south and west windows.
This naturally warms the house. If your windows let in a lot of cold air, you might want to use new caulk and weatherstripping to seal them.
Put in insulation
If you have an old house, chances are it’s not well insulated against the cold. This means that plenty of cold air gets into the house, causing your furnace to overwork.
You can save a lot of energy by ensuring your insulation is up to code.
One excellent way to go about it is to have insulation blown into your attic or crawl space on your roof.
This will keep your house warm in the winter and save you money on cooling costs in the summer.
Get your furnace serviced.
One of the best ways to save energy and feel better in the winter is to have your furnace or heat pump serviced yearly.
When a professional checks, cleans, and fixes your heating system regularly, it will work better and use less energy to heat your home.
Most HVAC manufacturers recommend you tune up your appliance at least twice a year.
When hiring a furnace service Huntington professional, don’t hire just any other—take time to find a reputable and experienced one.
It’s common to find a cheap contractor, and you might be tempted to hire them, but you shouldn’t, as chances are that they aren’t experienced enough, and they end up damaging your appliance.
Remember that you are better off with an expensive but experienced contractor than a cheap inexperienced one.