Energy Savings Tips: Heating Your Home - Furnace

Energy Savings Tips: Heating Your Home - Furnace

Here are ways to save energy on heating your home - furnace (sorry, 8 layers of clothing and a hat doesn't count). These money-saving ideas can help you lower your energy bill by reducing energy consumption in your house or apartment.

You can also help to reduce the demand of electricity at peak electrical demand times - 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. These energy saving tips below may help cut down on the amount of energy you use and trim your household energy costs, while lowering peak demand on your electricity utility company.

Heating Your Home - Furnace

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, roughly 50 percent of homeowners don't change temperature settings at night. By lowering your home's temperature just 5 to 10 degrees at night and when no one is home to save energy can reduce your heating costs by up to 20 percent per year. Programmable thermostats can help you manage your heating demand.

Considering buying a new energy efficient furnace? A new furnace or boiler will probably take quite a few years for you to save enough to recoup the entire $4,000 to $5,000 purchase price. You may want to consider keeping your existing furnace and making your current system more efficient by sealing any cracks or gaps in ductwork and by insulating the ducts. Additionally, you can caulk any holes in your walls or around electrical outlets, especially if they directly connect to an unheated basement or attic. Those small holes can turn into laser beams of cold air, which always seem to aimed at exactly where ever you are.


* Set your thermostat at 68 degrees F when you're home and 60 degrees F when you're away.
* Buy a programmable thermostat. They save energy and they are easier to program than your VCR.
* Add Insulation. According to the U.S. Department of Energy 80 percent of older homes are under-insulated. You can save hundreds of dollars a year on your energy bills and the payback period can be in as little as two years. The best place to start is by sealing large gaps around chimneys, furnace flues, plumbing pipes, ductwork, light fixtures, and soffits in your attic to save energy. Don't forget to examine that mother-in-law for leaky windpipes as well. You can also place insulation between attic-floor joists and on the hatch or door, or add more if it's already there. Next, seal air leaks in the basement and insulate ceilings in unheated basements and around the walls in heated basements or unvented crawl spaces.
* Use ceiling fans to help circulate air throughout the house.
* Use portable fans to help distribute the heat throughout your home.
* Turn off fans when not at home.
* Keep all windows and doors closed when using the furnace.
* Open blinds and drapes to let solar energy inside, especially to the side of your home facing the sun.
* When purchasing a heating furnace or any other new appliance, look for models with the ENERGY STAR
® label--they are more energy efficient and will help keep costs down
* Keep the heat in. Check weatherstripping around doors and caulking around windows. Properly sealed doors and windows help prevent warm or cold outside air from entering the home. Weather-stripping and caulking your doors and windows can save as much as 6% of your heating costs.
* In the winter, your heating system is probably your biggest energy user (except for your father-in-law), accounting for 13-16% of your monthly bill. If we all turned down our thermostats just two degrees, we'd save enough energy to heat 20,000 homes for a day.
* Choose the correct temperature setting. You can save energy and reduce your heating costs by turning your thermostat down. For every two degrees you lower your thermostat you can save approximately 5% percent on your heating costs.
* Heat your home normally. Thermostats should never be turned up high to heat a home in a hurry. It won't heat your home any faster.
* Don't let heat escape. Keep doors and windows closed on chilly nights.
* Up to 20% of your heating can be lost through your ceiling. Proper insulation will keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer. "R" stands for resistance to heat flow. The higher the "R value," the greater the insulating power.
* Don't block heating vents. Check to see that heating vents are unobstructed so your system doesn't over-work itself getting heat into your home. An obstructed vent, inside or outside your home, wastes both energy and money. Move furniture away from vents.
* Replace air filers. Check filters at least twice during the heating season and either vacuum or replace them.
* Proper Furnace maintenance. Proper maintenance helps your furnace run more efficiently. In addition to regular do-it-yourself maintenance, it's a good idea to have your entire system checked yearly by a qualified heating contractor.