Keeping your living space warm and cozy throughout the freezing New Britain, PA, winter is essential. Unfortunately, when the weather is at its coldest, you’ll need to run your heating system frequently to ensure the comfort of everyone in your home. Unfortunately, this requires a lot of energy, meaning that your monthly heating bills will rise significantly. Plus, keeping your furnace running all day can lead to quite a bit of wear and tear. This can increase the risk of mechanical problems and shorten the lifespan of your heating unit. Let’s take a look at a handful of simple tips for improving the energy efficiency of your HVAC system this winter.
1. Schedule a Professional Furnace Tune-Up
At least once per year, you should schedule an appointment with a qualified local HVAC professional to inspect and tune up your heating system. If your heating unit goes too long without professional maintenance, it can begin to struggle with its performance and efficiency. In some cases, it may even malfunction or break down.
At TCS Heating and Air Conditioning, we offer expert heating maintenance for residents of the greater New Britain area. When you schedule this service, one of our expert heating technicians will visit your home and thoroughly inspect your furnace. They’ll make any necessary repairs or adjustments and determine whether any components need to be replaced. In addition to greatly improving your heater’s performance, this tune-up will give you the chance to catch any impending furnace issues before they become serious problems. As a result, you can save money and avoid frustration down the road.
Since you’ll likely be relying on your heating system frequently during the winter, the beginning of the cold season is an ideal time to schedule professional furnace maintenance.
2. Maintain a Clean Home
Keeping a clean house can lead to significantly improved HVAC efficiency. When you go long periods without thoroughly cleaning your dwelling, it allows large amounts of dust, dirt, and random debris to accumulate on the many surfaces around your home. Many of these contaminants will be kicked up into the air and circulated by your heating system. In addition to worsening the quality of the air you breathe, this can cause your furnace filter to become clogged much more quickly. This worsens the performance and efficiency of the appliance. Cleaning should include vacuuming carpets, wiping down counters, and shaking any mats and rugs outside.
3. Replace Your Furnace Filter
Your furnace’s air filter plays a crucial role in energy efficiency. When a furnace air filter is clean, the system can easily pull air through it. This means that the vast majority of airborne contaminants will be trapped by the filter. However, when enough of those particles are caught, they can create an obstruction in the air filter. This gradually makes it more difficult for the furnace to circulate air, forcing it to work harder and use more energy. Plus, a dirty or clogged air filter can cause other problems, such as poor air circulation and worsened indoor air quality.
Depending on the specific type of filter your furnace uses and several other factors, you should typically replace the air filter every two to three months. This will go a long way toward keeping your HVAC system as efficient as possible throughout the New Britain winter.
4. Reduce Run Time
One of the reasons why households tend to accumulate high energy bills in the winter is that their heating systems are running for many hours throughout the day. If you want to have a more efficient winter season, you’ll need to find ways to give your furnace a break. This will not only reduce your electricity bills, but it will also improve the longevity of your furnace.
When the weather is at its coldest, you probably won’t want to have your heater turned off for very long. However, you can take a break from running it by occasionally lowering the temperature in your home. For example, when you go to bed each night, you should be able to turn the thermostat down a few degrees without it bothering you too much. You and your family should also make a point to turn down your heating system whenever you’re away from home for extended periods of time. Although it may seem like a few hours of rest won’t make much difference for your furnace, those brief periods can add up to major energy savings over an entire winter.
5. Clean Out Your Air Vents
When your heater is cycling this winter, all of the warm air that it creates will have to pass through your household air vents to reach your living space. However, if you haven’t cleaned those vents in months or years, there will likely be lots of dust, dirt, and debris built up inside of them. These contaminants can eventually start to create an obstruction for the airflow of your HVAC system, leading to worsened energy efficiency.
You can do this by simply removing each vent’s cover panel with a screwdriver and vacuuming the interior with a vacuum cleaner’s extension hose. This will improve your HVAC efficiency throughout the winter while also improving your indoor air quality.
6. Get a Smart Thermostat
Investing in a programmable thermostat is an easy way to improve your home’s efficiency this winter. With a smart thermostat, you’ll be able to set your HVAC system’s schedule automatically, meaning that you’ll never need to worry about accidentally leaving the heat on for too long. Programmable thermostats can also track your energy usage, which will make it easier for you to find effective means of energy conservation throughout the winter. These modern thermostats also come equipped with various other features that can improve your energy efficiency and make your day-to-day life more convenient, like smart connectivity. Plus, they’re relatively affordable and simple to install.
7. Seal Household Air Leaks
You may think that your home is free of air leaks, but many New Britain households harbor multiple leaks without the homeowners ever realizing that they’re causing problems. During the winter, even small gaps and cracks around the edges of windows or doorways can allow large amounts of warm air to escape the house. This forces your heating system to work much harder and use more energy. This winter, take some time to inspect your living space for air leaks. If you find any, you should be able to seal them with caulking and weather stripping from the local hardware store.
Your Trusted New Britain HVAC Professionals
At TCS Heating and Air Conditioning, we’re proud to provide residents of the greater New Britain area with quality home comfort services. Whether you need assistance with the installation, inspection, or repair of heating, cooling, indoor air quality, boilers, or ductless HVAC systems, our team of NATE-certified technicians will be there to help. We value our customers and consistently strive to provide them with exceptional customer service and reliable workmanship. If you’d like to learn more or schedule an appointment, contact TCS Heating and Air Conditioning today.
