When the grip of winter hits, you may love the warmth of your furnace. However, you may not love the shock you get when your heating bill comes every month. There’s good news: there are many easy things you can do to reduce your heating bills this winter. Some are completely free, while others have a minimal cost.
If you follow these tips, you should see lower heating bills this winter, though how much saving you see will depend on the nature of your home.
Schedule Furnace Maintenance
Getting regular furnace maintenance will help your furnace function more efficiently, which will help keep your heating costs down. This is top of the list because it’s something you should do anyway. Getting annual furnace maintenance not only saves on heating bills, but also makes sure your furnace runs and keeps running for longer.
Change Your Air Filter
Your air filter is essential to keep the furnace from sucking in dust and hair to redistribute through the house. However, the air filter gets clogged, which impairs the function of your furnace. The blower will have to run harder to distribute warm air, and your burners will have to run longer to achieve the same heating.
Change your air filter every month or according to the manufacturer’s guidelines.
Lower the Thermostat
The higher you set the thermostat, the higher your heating bills. Lowering your thermostat will reduce your heating bills. Your thermostat should be set below 73° F, but if you can tolerate it lower, consider going as low as 65° F during the day and 60° F at night. As a side benefit, having the thermostat lower may help you sleep at night.
You can also lower the thermostat when you go to work or when you are out of town for a long holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Smart Thermostat
Setting the thermostat multiple times a day can be a nuisance, and the odds are that you will often forget. That won’t help lower your heating bills. However, a smart thermostat can be programmed to change the temperature automatically. You can even have it start warming up the house before you get out of bed, which will make it easier to get up on those cold winter mornings.
Close off Unused Rooms
If you have rooms in your house that you don’t use or rarely use, like a guest bedroom, close them off and shut the air vents to those rooms. Let them stay significantly colder than the rest of the house, and you will save the cost of heating those rooms all winter long.
Seal Air Leaks
Air leaks let heated air out and cold air in, which make it harder to maintain the heat in your home. Start closing air leaks by doing simple things like putting a rolled up towel against a door that doesn’t seal well at the bottom. Then move up to caulking around windows and adding weather stripping.
This will help your home feel more comfortable with less heat from the furnace.
Insulate Your Attic
Ideally, your attic should already be insulated, but there are several potential problems with attic insulation that mean it’s not a bad idea to revisit this solution. Insulation breaks down over time, so it may not be as insulating as it used to be. In addition, adding an extra layer of insulation is often recommended.
Let the Sunshine in
If you have windows that get sunshine during the day, make sure to throw those curtains open and let the light in. Although passive solar heating is not the heating solution we once hoped it might be, you might as well take advantage of it when you can.
Reverse Ceiling Fans
In the summer, you want ceiling fans blowing on you to help you cool off, but they can also help in the winter. Hot air rises, so much of your heated air can get trapped above the living areas where you won’t feel it. Ceiling fans can help redistribute this heat, and if you reverse the direction, you won’t feel the air blowing on you. For most ceiling fans, reversing the direction is as easy as throwing a switch at the base of the fan.
Bake at Home
Fresh breads and pies are a wonderful treat, but they can also help lower your heating costs. The oven heat will help the house feel warmer. Once you finish baking, you can leave the oven open just a small crack to let the residual oven heat distribute through the house.
Replace Your Furnace
Although furnace maintenance will extend the life of your furnace and help it maintain efficiency, at a certain point, it’s time to consider furnace replacement. Older furnaces are just not as efficient as modern models, and they lose efficiency over time despite regular maintenance.
Replacing your furnace with a new, more efficient model will help you lower your heating bills for years to come. Some options, like geothermal heating, can provide even more savings.
Furnace Maintenance and Replacement in Colorado
Your furnace is the key to keeping warm in the winter, and it can also unlock significant savings on your energy bills if you maintain it properly and replace it when its time has come. At Major Heating and Air Conditioning, we can help you take care of your furnace through regular annual maintenance, and when you need a new furnace, we are also experts at furnace installation. In addition to the traditional natural gas furnaces popular in Colorado, we are experts in modern heating innovations like residential and commercial geothermal heating units.
Since 1970, Major Heating and Air conditioning has helped Coloradans feel comfortable in their homes and businesses year-round. We carry an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau because of our commitment to satisfying customers and resolving our infrequent complaints promptly in a way that makes even complaining customers happy in the end. We also offer 24/7 emergency service, so you can get your heat back on ASAP.
To learn how Major Heating and Air Conditioning can help you lower your heating bills this winter, use our online form today to schedule an appointment.