January 29, 2007
Expert Tips on Heating Your Home This Winter
Winter is here and if you haven't done the necessary maintenance to your home to make it as heat efficient as possible, there's never a better time than now! Mike Feutz, HVACR department chair, offers these valuable tips:
- Install a new air filter. Dirty filters cut down on airflow through your furnace, thereby reducing its efficiency and ability to heat your home. Filters are readily available and easy to install. There isn't a magic formula for how often a new filter should be installed, but check it every month. If it is dirty (not just discolored, but build up of dust and dirt), replace it. The dollars you spend on a new filter will easily be paid back in reduced energy bills.
- Install storm windows. They provide another layer of glass to slow escaping heat and help seal out drafts. Windows are very poor insulators - far worse than your walls. Storm windows (even a layer of plastic) will reduce heat loss through your windows.
- Close drapes when you don't need to see out of the windows. Drapes, like storm windows, add another barrier against heat loss through your windows. Even if you only close them at night, you will be saving energy and keeping your home warmer.
- Install weather-stripping. If you have drafty doors and windows, weather-stripping will cut down on infiltration, which is air leaking into your home. Not only will this reduce the amount of work your furnace has to do (it won't have to heat up that cold air), it will make you more comfortable because you won't be feeling cold drafts.
- Have a qualified technician inspect your furnace or boiler. Yes, this will cost you something, but it will ensure that your heating appliance is working at its peak efficiency. Further, the technician will ensure that there are no safety concerns. Faulty heating appliances and poor installations can cause carbon monoxide to leak into your home. This can cause headaches, drowsiness and even death.
- Bonus tip: Add insulation. Yes, you hear about this all the time, but insulation to a house is like a good hull to a boat - both prevent leaks. A leaking boat requires a bilge pump to pump the water out. You can fix the leaks or buy a bigger bilge pump. In a house, heat leaks out when the house is poorly insulated. You can "pump" the heat back in by buying a bigger furnace, or running your furnace for a longer period of time, or you can add insulation where insulation is missing to stop the heat from leaking out.
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