The last days of summer are upon us, which means the chillier months of the year will soon be here. To keep from heating up your HVAC bills more than necessary, it’s a good idea to learn a few strategies for keeping your heating bills as low as possible this winter season and every winter after.
Keep Your Sweater On
While you might feel a bit silly wearing extra layers inside your home, you most certainly won’t feel silly about saving money on your heating bills. Keep on your sweater or sweatshirt and bump the thermostat down to bump up your savings. Every degree you lower your thermostat can save you as much as five percent on your HVAC bills. Resist the urge to crank up the heat and instead reach for another layer of clothing when you feel chilly inside your home.
Take Good Care of Your Weatherstripping
The fall season is the perfect time to examine the weatherstripping around your home’s doors and windows. Worn out stripping can let in drafts, which not only makes your home colder, but also makes your furnace work harder than necessary to keep you and your family comfortable. You’ll be pleased to know that replacing your weatherstripping is something you can easily do on your own without calling in a professional.
Maintain Your Furnace
Something you will need to call a professional for is keeping your furnace in tip-top shape. Reach out to a known and trusted HVAC company for furnace and air conditioning repairs in the Philadelphia area. An expert technician will help ensure your system works at peak efficiency so you save money over the long run. Even better is the fact that an expert technician can let you know if your unit has any minor problems that need to be taken care of before they become major issues with major bills.
Let the Sun Heat Up Your Home
If any of your home’s windows face the south, open them up during the day to let the sunlight warm up and brighten your home before you turn up the thermostat. With this tip, you’ll want to make sure you close your windows at night so the cold outside doesn’t infiltrate your home.
Install a Programmable Thermostat
Programmable thermostats do wonders for your comfort level as well as your savings. The great thing about them is you can program them according to your daily schedule so you aren’t heating up your home when you aren’t there and can come home to a toasty warm home. Programmable thermostats are especially useful if you find yourself constantly forgetting to adjust the thermostat when you leave for work.
Take Care of Holes in Your Exterior Walls
Any electrical cables, pipes and gas lines that lead into your home likely have gaps around them, gaps that let in cold air that can drive down the temperature of your home. You can plug up these gaps with expanding foam, which is much more effective than traditional caulk. When sealing up the gaps around water pipes, you’ll first want to remove escutcheon rings.
Invest in a Portable Heater
A quality portable heater is a great buy if you don’t want to heat up every room in your house or if there’s someone who feels colder than everyone else. Portable heaters are also a good idea when everyone in the house is in a single room, such as the living room. Everyone will be comfortable, and your heating bills are sure to be more comfortable as well.
Use Your Fireplace the Right Way
Having a fireplace is a great way to cut down on how much you rely on your furnace to keep warm, but knowing how to properly use your fireplace is even better. For starters, make sure your damper is closed when you aren’t using it. It’s also a good idea to invest in tempered glass doors and a heat-air exchange system to cycle warm air into the room. You can also cut down on unnecessary heat loss when using your fireplace either by opening a nearby window an inch and closing all doors in the room when using the fireplace or by opening the firebox bottom damper.
Heat your home up smarter this fall and winter season. Doing so is a great way to keep from burning through your finances and peace of mind.