Winter is coming and when the cold weather arrives, you want to make sure your home’s equipment is ready for it. You also want to make sure you aren’t paying too much each month on heating costs. Follow these energy-saving tips to keep your energy use down while protecting your family from the winter weather:
-
Block Out Drafts: You can greatly reduce the amount of work your heating equipment has to do by keeping cold air out and warm air in. In fact, as much as 30 percent of your heating costs can go toward countering the cold brought into your house by drafts. Use materials such as weatherstripping and plastic insulation to prevent drafts from seeping into your home.
-
Seal Your Ducts: Make sure all the warm air that you are paying for is getting into your home by preventing it from escaping through cracks and holes in your ductwork into areas that don’t need it such as your attic and crawlspaces. Duct mastic is a spreadable material that can be used to cover such gaps, which then hardens, preventing air from leaking out.
-
Schedule Preventive Maintenance: The best way to prepare your heating equipment for the winter is to have an HVAC contractor come and inspect all the components to make sure that none of them are in danger of breaking down. They will also clean each part so they can run at maximum efficiency. This provides you with peace of mind knowing that your heating system will last all winter long.
-
Run Ceiling Fans In Reverse: Having your fans run clockwise during the winter will actually help warm your rooms by pushing warm air back down.
-
Upgrade Your Heating Equipment: Updating to a new furnace can often cut your monthly heating expenses in half. There are tax credits and rebates available that can help lower the cost of an upgrade. The savings you create eventually will help offset the cost of the new heating installation.
For more energy saving tips on prepping your home’s equipment for winter, contact Comfort Services today. We proudly serve South Carolina's Midlands.
