Ways You Can Maximize Your Heating Savings This Winter

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We are lucky in Yuma in winter, as our winters are mild and our heating bills stay relatively low. However, we do periodically get chilly weather that calls for us to turn up the heat. Happily, there are a number of things we can do to increase heating savings. After all, who doesn’t want to save on their utility bills?

Let’s look at the ways you can achieve heating savings:

  1. Open the drapes and let the sunshine in. We have abundant sunshine here in Yuma, so be sure to open up the drapes, shades, or blinds and let the sunshine in. Solar radiation can help warm up your home’s interior. Likewise, close the window coverings at night to keep the heat in.
  2. Seal air leaks. Through the years, as a house settles, it is likely to develop minute cracks in the walls, around the foundation, and around key areas including doors and windows, openings for cables, wires and pipes in exterior walls, and baseboards. Go around your home and close up these cracks with insulation, caulk, or weatherstripping. This will keep cold air out and warm air inside, literally enhancing heating savings.
  3. Close the fireplace damper. When you’re not using the fireplace, keep the damper closed. Otherwise, the warm air from your central heating is likely to go out the chimney.
  4. Adjust the thermostat as needed to save on energy use. Turn the thermostat down when the home’s occupants are sleeping at night or away during the day; turn it back up when people are awake and moving around during the day. Turning the thermostat down a few degrees can save significantly on energy bills.
  5. Change the air filter. A dirty air filter will slow down the airflow from the HVAC system and cause it to labor as it’s heating. Changing the air filter will help the system run more efficiently.
  6. Get furnace maintenance. Schedule furnace or heat pump maintenance every fall to ensure the heating system is in good repair and that it will run reliably and efficiently through the winter.

For more on heating savings, contact Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company of Yuma.