Did you have heating maintenance done this past fall? If you did, great! Your heater is probably in good shape and ready to make it through the rest of the winter weather we have this season. At least, this is the case if you followed up on repair needs that were recommended at the time. Maintenance is also vital to keeping the efficiency of your heater up. Actually, each year you skip maintenance, your heater can lose about 5% of its efficiency.
Maintenance is not the only way to boost heating efficiency! It’s definitely the first step, and a very important step at that. But there are other things you can do that are affordable and even free, that help improves efficiency and therefore save money. Read on as we uncover a few tips on how to do this.
Keep Your Home Sealed Up!
Homes today are built very “tightly.” This means that air cannot escape in or out. The purpose of this is to improve the overall efficiency of your home. When you run your heater in the winter, you don’t want heated air getting out, or the chilly outdoor air getting in, right?
You can help out even more by making sure you keep your windows and doors closed during the heating season. It can be tempting to keep them open on a mild night, but if you do that you should turn off your heating system—otherwise you’re wasting energy.
If you have an older home, you may have drafty windows and doors. Fortunately, this can be resolved with some affordable weatherstripping or caulking. Let us know if you need any help determining what your needs are in this area!
Be Sure Your Ductwork Is in Good Shape
We don’t expect you to visually inspect your air ducts on your own—they’re often in pretty inaccessible areas such as your attic, crawlspace, or even behind walls. As such, it can be hard for you to discover problems with it, let alone repair those problems.
If you haven’t had your ductwork inspected and tested in a few years, it’s a good idea to do it now. Duct testing will inform our professionals if you need duct sealing, repair, or replacement. Damaged ducts can actually cause you to lose about 30% of the conditioned air that you’re paying for anyway. Talk about a costly problem!
Set the Thermostat at a Reasonable Level
Did you know that most people are comfortable with a thermostat setting of 68° during the coldest days of winter? Anything above that means you could be wasting valuable energy. Many homeowners set their thermostats higher—usually about 72°–thinking this will help their home heat up faster.
But all it really does is make the heater run longer until it reaches 74°, and then cools back down. As a result, you may actually find yourself getting too warm, which is definitely a sign you can make some adjustments and get more efficient heating!
W.C. Butler Heating and Air Conditioning is your trusted resource for quality Botetourt County, VA furnace service. Contact us today!