When winter arrives here in Ronkonkoma, NY, you’ll rely heavily on your home’s heating system. However, turning up the heat in your home comes at a significant cost. So, if you’re like most people, you’re probably open to any way you can trim your winter energy bills. With that in mind, here’s a list of 10 great ways to cut your heating costs this winter.
1. Schedule an HVAC Maintenance Appointment
Getting your heating system a tune-up before winter is an effective way to reduce energy expenditures. According to experts, most heating systems lose approximately 5% of their efficiency each year they go without maintenance. That drop-off will have a meaningful effect on your energy bills. During a maintenance visit, an HVAC technician will clean, lubricate, and adjust your heating system. That will help it reach peak efficiency and cut your costs.
2. Seal Air Leaks
To keep heating costs low, you must keep the warm air inside your home and the cold air out. To accomplish this, you should find and fix as many air leaks as possible. Inspect around your windows and exterior doors, looking for gaps. Seal any you find with caulking. You can also install weatherstripping to help reduce drafts.
For even better results, use a candle or an incense stick to search for tiny air leaks you can’t see. First, close your home’s windows and doors and turn off your HVAC. Then, take your lit candle or incense stick near the inside of each exterior door or window. Slowly move it around the opening’s perimeter. You’ve found an air leak if you see the candle flickering or the smoke moving. Make a list of all you find and apply additional caulking to stop the leaks. You can re-check the problematic areas until you’re confident there’s no more air passing through.
3. Upgrade Attic Insulation
Since heat rises, upgrading your attic insulation is essential to lowering heating costs. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to do. If you already have rolled attic insulation, you can add another layer on top of it, or you can have loose insulation blown in to cover it. The U.S. Department of Energy says homes in our region should have attic insulation of up to R-60. Only very recently built homes are likely to have insulation at that level, so there’s usually room for improvement.
4. Insulate Your Basement
If your home has a basement or crawlspace, it may be a significant source of heat loss. According to energy efficiency studies, the average home experiences up to 33% of its total heat losses that way. Therefore, sealing and insulating your home’s basement should cut your heating costs significantly.
5. Check Your Home’s Humidity
Did you know that colder air holds less moisture than hot air? That’s one of the reasons homes tend to feel chilly in winter, even at moderate temperatures. Comfort experts say you should maintain an indoor humidity between 30% and 40% in the winter. If your level is persistently below that, consider a humidifier to correct the problem. A proper humidity level may allow you to turn your thermostat down without sacrificing comfort.
6. Use Curtains and Blinds Strategically
Another way to cut your heating costs in the winter is to maximize the effects of solar heating. To do that, when it’s sunny, open the curtains and blinds covering your windows. That will let the sun warm your home, reducing your reliance on your HVAC. However, you should close your blinds and curtains at night or on overcast days. That will help trap more heat inside your home.
7. Unblock and Open Vents
Keeping your home’s vents open and unobstructed helps your HVAC achieve maximum heating efficiency. So, if you have any furniture blocking your vents, you should move it elsewhere. And if you closed vents to adjust airflow during the summer, you should open them. You should also avoid closing unused rooms in the winter. Doing so restricts airflow through your home and will force your heating system to work harder.
8. Use Your Kitchen Frequently
If you eat out often, you’re passing up a great way to lower your home’s heating costs. Using your kitchen appliances will add heat to your home and reduce your HVAC demand. For best results, remember to leave your oven open a crack after you use it. That will dissipate its heat into your home for maximum effect. You may even save money on your food budget while cutting your energy bills.
9. Turn on Ceiling Fans
It may sound counterintuitive, but you can use ceiling fans to cut your heating bills. All you have to do is flip their direction switches to make them rotate clockwise. Then, run them at a low speed. That will push heat down from the ceiling and keep you warmer. Otherwise, all that heat occupies a part of the room where it does no good. Doing this should let you lower your thermostat by a degree or two without feeling colder.
10. Install a More Efficient Heating System
Finally, the best way to cut heating costs in the winter is to install a more efficient heating system. You could achieve impressive savings that way. For example, if you now have a conventional gas furnace, it’s likely about 80% efficient. If you switched to an air-source heat pump, you could bump your heating efficiency up significantly. Most air-source heat pumps operate at between 300% and 400% efficiency in the winter. They can do that because they don’t consume energy to create heat. Instead, they capture heat from the outside environment to heat your home. Plus, air-source heat pumps can work as a direct replacement for any existing ducted heating system. So, you don’t have to spend a fortune modifying your home to support one.
Believe it or not, air-source heat pumps aren’t even the most efficient heating option. For that, you have to look at a geothermal heating system. This involves another type of heat pump that uses an underground refrigerant loop to gather heat for your home. As a result, geothermal systems can run at up to 600% efficiency! They take advantage of the relatively stable temperatures found a few feet beneath the ground. We can install the required ground loop for a geothermal system horizontally or vertically to suit your property. The rest of the equipment for a geothermal system is almost identical to an air-source heat pump. So, you wouldn’t have to modify your home to support geothermal, either.
Local Heating Efficiency Experts
Since opening in 1975, Cool Power LLC has been a heating efficiency leader in Ronkonkoma. We offer HVAC installation services at affordable prices. That includes furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, and geothermal systems. We’re a Lennox Premier Dealer, and you can expect only the finest HVAC systems from us. You can also count on us to handle your HVAC repair and furnace maintenance needs. We even handle commercial systems, should you also own a nearby business. In addition, we provide financing on approved credit if you need help paying for a more efficient HVAC system. If you’re ready for a heating efficiency upgrade for your Ronkonkoma home, call us at Cool Power LLC today!
