If your home feels cold even when your heater is running, you could be losing warm air through gaps in your doors, windows, or insulation. Your heater could also be wasting energy in other ways. This increases your utility bills, creates more pollution, and makes your Charles Town, West Virginia, home less comfortable. Here are some easy ways to make your HVAC system more efficient so you won’t have to worry about cold drafts in the winter.
Add a Programmable Thermostat
You can set a programmable thermostat to turn down the temperature inside your home while you’re asleep or at work and raise it before you wake up or come home. That way you save energy and stay comfortable in winter. You can use many programmable thermostats to set different temperatures for different areas or zones of your home. This lets you avoid heating unoccupied rooms and concentrate that heat where people are.
Programmable thermostats save the most energy in homes that are large or more than one story tall. Some programmable thermostats can even communicate with your smartphone, tablet, or computer, so you can make changes when you’re away from home. You can install one yourself, but one of our professionals would gladly do it for you. Many models have color touchscreens, and some connect to air pressure monitors near your air filter so you know exactly when you should change it.
Use Your Ceiling Fans
You can use your ceiling fans to help keep your home warm in winter as well as make it cooler in summer. When ceiling fans turn counterclockwise, they push air towards the floor and create a cool breeze. In winter, you should set your ceiling fan to turn clockwise. Use a ladder or step stool to reach the small switch in the center of the fan near the light fixture. When a fan turns clockwise, it pushes air towards the ceiling and then towards the walls and floor. Since warm air rises, this makes your rooms feel warmer in winter.
Update Doors and Windows
Doors and windows are some of the largest sources of drafts in homes, so you should check them for air leaks often. If you can see light through cracks in your doors or windows or they rattle in their frames, you need to repair gaps or leaks. Use weatherstripping to cover larger gaps in doors or windows and caulk for smaller leaks. You should replace your weatherstripping every few years to keep it in good condition. Plus, some doors let you adjust the height of the threshold with screws to make it more effective at keeping drafts out.
You can also use thick curtains to make your home less drafty and block some of the sounds from outdoors. Open the curtains when it’s sunny outside, of course, for free lighting and heat.
Maintain Your Heating System
Have your heater inspected by a professional at least once per year to prevent expensive and inconvenient breakdowns and to keep your system working at peak efficiency. If you have a central heating system, you should also have your ductwork checked for leaks that waste energy and make some rooms feel colder. Regular maintenance can even extend your HVAC system’s life.
You should check the outdoor parts of your heating system for debris like grass clippings, leaves, and twigs once per month and clean it when needed for better airflow. Also, clean your air registers when they get dirty; make sure furniture, rugs, or curtains don’t block them; check your ductwork once per year for dust, dirt, cobwebs, or pest droppings that could block your system’s airflow, too.
Check your air filter once per month and replace it when it gets dirty or at least every three months. A dirty air filter lowers your indoor air quality and wastes energy by forcing your system to work harder.
Griffith Energy Services has over 110 years of heating and cooling experience. We can help you keep your home comfortable, save you energy, and install, maintain, and repair a range of HVAC equipment. Call us anytime at 888-474-3391 for service from one of our experts.
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