If you’re like most homeowners, you’d probably like to do anything you can in order to save money on your energy bills. And there are a couple appliances in particular that heavily contribute to these costs—your air conditioner and your heater. We’re going to focus on your heater today, given the time of year we’re in.
Did you know there are some simple steps you can take to not only ensure your heater is performing efficiently, but also boost its efficiency? You don’t have to sacrifice your comfort to save money. You can just follow the tips below, many of them small adjustments, to see huge benefits.
Have Your Heater Maintained
We’ll start with this one because it is simply the most important. If you skipped heating maintenance this year for any reason, we urge you to have it done now. True, we typically recommend you have this service done before the heating season begins. But it’s better to have it done on an annual basis than to not have it done at all this year.
Maintenance allows our technicians to thoroughly inspect your entire heater. When we do this, we’ll clean all the components, adjust parts that need it, and recommend repairs if necessary. All of this helps your system to work more efficiently overall, thus saving you money.
Change Your Air Filter
Changing your air filter every few months is a maintenance task you can and should do on your own. The air filter in your furnace or heat pump is often shared with the air conditioner. This means that almost throughout the entire year, it’s guarding your HVAC systems from dust, dirt, allergens, and other debris.
When this debris clogs up the filter too much, it makes your heater work harder, and thus, inefficiently. Though it depends on the type of filter you have, we recommend changing this out every 1–3 months—the more contaminants are in your home, the more often you should change the filter.
Use Your Ceiling Fans
“Wait, aren’t ceiling fans just for summertime?” Nope! They are of course beneficial in the summer—helping you stay cooler in the room you are in by helping your AC evenly distribute conditioned air. But in the wintertime you can reverse the direction of the blades so it helps your forced-air heater in the same way.
Handle Ductwork Needs
We’re talking about ducts that are damaged. Breached ductwork can allow as much as 30% of the conditioned air to escape. That means that air you are paying for isn’t actually reaching the your living space. As a result, it won’t feel as warm as it should in your home, and will probably lead you to turn up the thermostat. Which is, of course, inefficient.
If you suspect your ductwork is damaged, be sure to give our team a call. You may require duct repair or even replacement, or you could have pinhole leaks that require duct sealing. Remember, duct repair and sealing cannot be achieved with “duct tape” you buy at a store. Unfortunately, this tape is not aptly named, and can turn brittle and become ineffective within months due to the temperature fluctuations in your ducts.
