It can be frustrating trying to keep your utility bills low during the winter months—after all, we rely on the heat from our forced air to keep us warm and cozy in our homes when the temperatures outside are terrifyingly chilly. Even with a new system or light furnace repair in Grand Junction, CO, you might not see a decline in cost on your heating bill, which can prove to be a major headache when you’re pinching pennies throughout the holiday season!
The problem with heating efficiency in your home might not be one that’s limited to your furnace, however. In fact, many homeowners are overlooking common issues that cause inefficiency that have nothing to do with their forced air system! Take a look at four common culprits to your inflated heating costs and what you can do to remedy them this winter:
- Seal up doors and windows: That faint whistle you hear walking past the window or the chilly spurt of air from around the door frame are going to be huge detractors to your winter heat bill because your furnace is going to have to work doubly hard to keep the temperature consistent! Seal them up around the frames and wind guards in front of doors to stem that heat loss.
- Invest in zone heating: If you’re getting heat pumped into one area of your home but not another, it’s going to create a wildly varying degree of comfort. Zone heating ensures that you’re not left walking through “pockets of heat in your home” and can help to make sure your furnace isn’t working overtime to heat spaces that should already be receiving heat.
- Insulate: Your home’s insulation is one of the unsung heroes of your comfort. Buried between your walls and in your ceiling, insulation helps to stem the flow of heat loss, making sure the temperatures in your home are kept warmer, for longer. By upgrading or extending your insulation, you’ll be working to improve your home’s ability to trap heat, thus taking the burden off of your furnace to keep pumping in newly warmed air.
- Variable heating: Variable heating is a brand new concept, introduced by smart thermostats and other similar technologies. The idea is that you don’t need the same level of heat in your home at all hours of the day and night. During the afternoon when the natural light of the sun warms your home, for example, you don’t need to be pumping hot air. Likewise, at night when it gets colder out, you might want a little boost in temperature! Heating your home variably throughout the day is going to improve efficiency tenfold in your home!
Now, even though the above factors can help to improve your home’s heating efficiency this winter, it’s important not to neglect basic furnace repair in Grand Junction, CO. Making sure your furnace is given the optimal chance to provide you with quality forced air is the first and foremost priority!