An efficient and properly performing heating system is essential to maintain a comfortable and safe home when winter’s extreme temperatures kick in.
Whether you have a heat pump or furnace or another resource, ensuring optimally efficient function is integral for an extended lifespan for the equipment and allows more manageable energy costs.
Many New York homeowners, however, inadvertently make mistakes that restrict the heat source’s efficiency and effectiveness. Read here for how furnace mistakes can spike your energy costs.
Even those things that may seem slight such as changing the air filter regularly can have a significant impact, forcing the furnace to work harder to keep a consistent temperature, leading to premature wear of the equipment.
When the furnace is strained, it not only increases utility costs but has the potential for a breakdown. We’ll look at common furnace mistakes and how to avoid them.
How To Get the Best Out of Your Furnace by Avoiding Common Mistakes
The heart of winter is keeping temperatures low and precipitation high in Yorktown Heights, New York. Residents count on a reliable and efficient heating source but too often make mistakes that detracts from its effectiveness and can lead to excessive costs due to frequent repairs and elevated utility bills.
If you’ve just moved into a property, it’s important to familiarize yourself with how to properly run your furnace and avoid common mistakes. Visit 10 Mistakes People Make with Heat | Networx – to learn what not to do with your heating system. Let’s review a few of these things to get you on the right track.
Constantly adjusting the thermostat to a higher temperature
Many people have the misconception that cranking the thermostat up will quickly raise a room’s temperature. In fact, this is a myth – heat doesn’t work like that.
The thermostat doesn’t have control over how quickly your house will heat up. It will set a max temp that you want to achieve but the room won’t instantly reach that degree. The heat will be on longer warming the space beyond your comfort level and creating higher utility costs.
If you’re starting with a freezing cold room, put on extra clothing, set the temperature to a comfortable level, and wait. You can actually save as much as 10 percent by setting the thermostat to 1F less, which won’t be noticeable in the grand scheme.
Keep consistent temps
Another common misconception is that you should turn the heat down at night to save energy. In fact, when you wake in the morning to a frigid household, you’ll then want to turn the thermostat above what would be a comfortable level.
Dropping a degree or two can save money but turning it off or too low and then cranking the heat back up forces the system to work harder, leading to spikes in utility costs and wear on the equipment.
A programmable thermostat is recommended for optimal efficiency. Homeowners can monitor and adjust the thermostat from anywhere, allowing better regulation and consistent climate control.
Care for radiators
Radiators are crucial for keeping rooms warm and comfortable, but care and upkeep are often neglected. These appliances perform inefficiently when they’re full of air, making investing in a boiler with all the bells and whistles essentially for naught.
It’s common for radiators to accumulate air with normal use. This air collects at the top of the appliance preventing the boiler’s hot water from circulating around the radiators to make them warm, usually a quick process.
If your radiators have cold patches or aren’t getting hot, you need to use the bleed key to open the valve at the top of the appliance. This releases the air so the hot water can flow normally.
A poorly insulated house
While updating your home’s insulation can be an investment, it offers returns in higher energy efficiency, keeping the furnace functioning at top performance with less exertion. Minimal or low-quality insulation will mean that much more energy is required to keep the space comfortable.
The warm air from the furnace will essentially escape through the roof, through the walls, out the doors and windows, and even through the flooring. In fact, an investment in high-quality and plenty of insulation is well worth the cost. You’ll actually be saving costs on utility bills.
Comparably, however, you also want to draft-proof your house to further save on energy expenses. Many homeowners don’t consider the amount of air that can escape or enter into the house through gaps or holes.
Simple solutions can be heavy drapes for the windows and draft excluders for the doors along with a chimney balloon for when it’s not in use.
Final Thought
One primary prevention many Yorktown Heights residents overlook is regular inspections and maintenance from a trusted and credentialed provider such as 123 HVAC in New York.
Companies like these thoroughly assess the heating system for developing issues and address these immediately to prevent escalating problems and the potential for a damaged furnace.
In order to extend the life of your equipment, it’s recommended to have inspections annually or twice each year for an older system. The benefits will be a furnace operating at peak performance; one that doesn’t waste energy, and you’ll save considerably on utility expenses.
