Best HVAC Tips to Save Money on Your Wintertime Energy Bills
One of the costliest expenses for any homeowner is their wintertime heating bill. It’s imperative for both your home and your family to stay nice and warm during the cold winter season. However, if you want to avoid spending an arm and a leg, you’ll want to implement some of these HVAC money-saving tips.
Install a Smart Thermostat
One of the best ways to help drastically reduce your wintertime heating bill is to install a smart thermostat. This type of thermostat can be easily programmed to heat your home to different temperature settings throughout the day. Most people will optimize their energy savings by keeping the temperature a little chillier during the daytime hours when no one’s home. A great benefit of investing in a smart thermostat is that it will learn your habits over time and make suggestions for the best settings to help you save more money on your energy bills.
Use Ceiling Fans
Another great way to help reduce your energy costs this winter season is to use ceiling fans throughout the most highly trafficked rooms of your home. Most ceiling fans will have two different settings on them. You’ll want to switch your fan to its reverse setting so that it will pull air up toward the ceiling. As this movement of air is created, the warm air at the top of your room is forced outward and back down to the floor. This allows you to re-circulate the heat in each room without having to turn up your thermostat to be comfortable.
Weatherproof Your Home
As your home ages, it will start to open up little gaps and cracks around your windows and doors. This can allow cold air to seep in from the outdoors and cause your HVAC system to have to work much harder to adequately heat your home. Fortunately, by installing items like weatherstripping and caulking up any open gaps, you can help to keep the cold air from penetrating the inside of your home. The less cold air that makes its way into your home, the less your HVAC system has to run to keep it nice and warm inside.
Regular Maintenance
If you want your heating system to be working at its most efficient level, you need to have it properly maintained by a licensed professional each year. They will not only work to clean your system, but they will ensure that all components are working as they’re supposed to. Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that you’re changing out your furnace filter every couple of months. Whenever a filter nears the end of its lifespan, it will be filled with a lot of debris. This debris can make it extremely difficult for your furnace to force air through it, and it will have to work much harder to deliver heat adequately throughout your home.
Open Up Blinds and Curtains
Did you know that direct sunlight coming in from a window can heat up a room by 10 degrees? A great way to help save money on your wintertime heating bills is to let the natural light of the sun help warm up your home. It’s a good idea to open the blinds and curtains in the rooms that get direct sunlight throughout the daytime. With more sunlight coming in to warm up the space, your heating system can work less to get that room to a comfortable temperature.
Take Advantage of Zoned Systems
If you have a zoned HVAC system in your home, it can be extremely helpful for optimizing your energy usage during the winter months. You should be setting the temperature in the rooms that you don’t use that often very low. Additionally, you want to set the temperature in your bedroom at least 5 degrees colder than the regular temperature that you set for the highly trafficked rooms of your home, like your living room and your kitchen. By not having to maintain the same temperature throughout your home, your zone system can help to use less energy while still keeping all the rooms of your home at a comfortable temperature for their specific use.
Top Quality Heating Services
Ultimate Homes & Cooling provides top-quality heating services for the entire Cape Coral, FL region. We can also assist with all of your cooling, indoor air quality, pool pump, and pool heating needs. Simply contact our office today to schedule an appointment.
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