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Home heating is one of your biggest bills. You may not realize it, but throughout the year, space heating can take up between 40% and 50% of your total energy expenditures. That number only increases during the winter months when you rely on heating even more. It’s not easy to generate heat and distribute it throughout your home. Your heating system works really hard to make this happen and you shouldn’t take it for granted. We want to help you and your system be efficient, so you can save money. Here are some of the bad habits you must avoid if you want a low heating bill!
Lack of Maintenance
We don’t often think about it, but your heater is a complex machine with moving parts. Just like you need to get your car maintained, you need your heater regularly worked on by a professional. Typically, we expect heaters to last about a decade, but a well-maintained system can last even longer saving you money in the long run.
Never Replacing Your Air Filters
Indoor air quality is the most underrated aspect of the HVAC ecosystem. Filters do the bulk of the work to boost indoor air quality, though behavioral habits like smoking can worsen indoor air quality as well. However, you need to replace your air filters semi-regularly. Ideally, this would be every month, but at the bare minimum, you want to be exchanging these every three months.
You may not notice it, but replacing your air filter can go a long way to help your home feel more comfortable. We’ve had customers who say they can sleep a lot better since they’ve changed out their filters for example.
Closing Vents in Unused Rooms
HVAC systems can be frustrating because there is really only one way to interact with them which is through your thermostat. Often, homeowners think about other ways they could potentially improve their HVAC efficiency and they turn to the vents. It’s logical because it seems that you have the choice to open or close them. However, that’s not necessarily true.
You only need to close your air vents in specific scenarios like looking for a leak or something like that. In reality, your vents should be open 99% of the time.
Some homeowners believe that closing vents in unused rooms allows for better energy transfer to the rooms that need heating, but this just isn’t the case. Your system is designed with all those vents in mind and will cause pressure buildup if the air can not escape as designed. This could potentially cause an expensive duct leak that could increase your bills for years if unnoticed!
Not Using a Smart Thermostat
Smart thermostats are more accessible and attainable than ever before. They are a modest investment of $100 or so and can more than makeup for that cost in energy savings in as little as a year. We recommend that every family install a smart thermostat to increase their HVAC efficiency. The great thing is that it can also make your home more comfortable and convenient at the same time that you are saving money!
Our team has years of experience with home heating installations. If you need maintenance or a new unit, contact Martin-Jetco Heating and Air Conditioning at (636) 205-1631. Don’t wait to take back control of your space and turn your home into the comfortable oasis you deserve. We are continuing to practice CDC recommended protocols to ensure the safety and health of both our clients and our technicians.
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