When winter arrives, many people prefer to spend more time inside of the house. The cold outdoor weather could affect indoor temperatures and comfort, though. A fully operating furnace helps keep a home’s interior within a preferred range, but the resulting heating bills could be beyond an acceptable budget.
Homeowners can take several steps to keep their heating bills down. And no, keeping costs down doesn’t require excessive effort or accepting an interior temperature that’s too cold for comfort.
Choose a Better Temperature Setting
Lowering the thermostat doesn’t necessarily mean everyone has to suffer through an uncomfortably low temperature. Turning the heat down one or two degrees might not impact your comfort level at all. However, the reduced temperature may lead to far lower heating bills.
If you’re concerned about high heating bills, it’s a good idea to reconsider which thermostat settings to choose. Lower temperatures mean a furnace runs less, and the monthly bills should drop accordingly.
Reducing a furnace’s workload might preserve some parts. The harder a heater works, the more wear and tear the parts undergo. Working the furnace a little less may mean fewer costly maintenance visits.
Don’t Delay Cleanings and Repairs
An efficient furnace might cost less to operate. A dirty furnace or one suffering from an old filter might work a lot harder to deliver preferable results. Even worse, a heater operating with a dirty filter could overheat, presenting a dangerous fire hazard.
Parts wear down over time. Replacing old components makes sense since inefficient parts may drag down performance. Remember, the harder a furnace works to heat a home, the higher the heating bills become. Scheduling an annual or twice-yearly inspection and cleaning could help homeowners avoid unwanted surprises.
Homeowners in De Pere and the surrounding Wisconsin townships can contact Healthy Home Heating & Cooling LLC to address heating maintenance and repair work. Our team handles work on gas furnaces and boilers produced by many top manufacturers.
A dirty or damaged furnace might outright break down under stress. If that happens on a freezing night, expect the interior temperature to drop. When the thermostat reveals the temperature is below freezing, worries about burst pipes may stress out homeowners. Why not go with preventive maintenance that might help everyone avoid such unexpected disasters?
Insulate the Interior
No one would run the furnace with a wide-open window, but even a slightly opened window could allow hot air to escape. Cracked glass, poorly fitted windows, and other imperfections might lead to the same result.
A trip to the local home improvement store could be all someone needs to purchase winter insulation products intended for doors and windows. After effectively sealing these portals, hot air might stay inside, and bills could drop.
An interior energy audit could be a worthwhile investment for homeowners. An experienced inspector may uncover hidden problems that require only a minimal amount of work to fix. Is there a door that doesn’t close snugly at the threshold? If so, without any adjustments, the door may continue to let heat escape.
Close Doors in Empty Rooms
Speaking of doors, why leave them open when you’re not inside of a particular room? Allowing hot air to circulate into a bedroom that no one occupies does little more than drive up energy bills and cause waste. Closing the door may solve the problem without much effort.
Installing a zoned heating system can also address issues with empty rooms that are mostly unoccupied during the day. Regulating temperature levels in empty rooms keeps costs down. Of course, installing a zone heating system requires a significant investment, but homeowners could save money in the long run, thanks to reduced heating bills.
Choose a Smart Thermostat
A smart thermostat provides homeowners with a programmable option. Set the temperature to remain at a certain level when no one’s home while also presetting the thermostat to rise before anyone comes back from work or school.
Does the thermostat work with a smartphone? Integrated smartphone apps might allow users to change temperature settings remotely and in real-time. As with preprogramming a thermostat’s setting, real-time changes cut down on waste and unnecessary costs.
In business since 2005, Healthy Home Heating & Cooling LLC has a team ready to work on your home’s furnace in De Pere, WI. Ask about our air conditioner repair services, too. Call us today to schedule a service visit.
