Tips to Lower Your Heating Bills This Winter

Just as it’s never too early in the fall to schedule regular heating maintenance, it’s never too early to start planning on saving energy during the winter. If you often find that it’s painful to look at your utility bills during the cold months because the heating system is costly to run, there are a number of steps you can take that will reduce your energy use. We’ve listed a few of the more useful ones below:

• Have the heating system professionally tuned-up: This is the #1 way to ensure a heater that doesn’t waste power over the winter. When a heating system is allowed to go without an annual fall tune-up, it will lose on average 5% of its efficiency each year. That may not sound like much—but it adds up over the season! Just imagine letting your heater go for a few years… you could be paying 20% more to run your heater than you should be!
• Regularly change the furnace filter: The filter on a furnace accumulates large amounts of dust, dirt, dander, and other debris as it runs over the winter. It takes about a month of regular operation for a furnace filter to become so clogged that it cuts off airflow—and this makes the furnace work extra hard and drain power. Get in the habit of putting in a new filter each month.
• Maintain a steady, lower thermostat setting: It’s wasteful to turn the thermostat up to as high as it can go, and it won’t make your home more comfortable either. We recommend that you place the thermostat at around 68°F, which most people will find pleasant with the help of warmer indoor clothing. Keep the thermostat steady at this temperature during the day, lowering it further at night, and you may be able to reduce your heating bills by 25%.
• Balance humidity with a humidifier: If your home often suffers from dry air in the winter, it means running the heating system more often. A whole-house humidifier can do wonders at making your house feel warmer, allowing you to cut down on how often the heater has to be on.

Raleigh Heating & Air, Inc. can help you enjoy better, energy-saving home heating in Cary, NC.