Since winter is well on its way, you may be wondering whether or not your home is as energy efficient as it could be. If you’ve noticed small cracks and holes in your windows, doors, or other areas of your home, chances are that you’re losing valuable heat. In fact, it’s been demonstrated that homes can lose 25% of their heat due to these issues. Furthermore, if you have an attic, you want to make sure to have it insulated, as heat can literally escape through the roof.
If your furnace has been making more noise than usual and not performing as it should, it may be on its last legs. This may be particularly the case if you have an older furnace. Given this, it would be a good idea to consult with your local HVAC repair contractor about installing a high-efficiency furnace. These updated systems have AFUE ratings between 90% and 95%, which means that they’re almost 100% efficient.
Would you like to save a few dollars on your heating costs throughout the winter? One way to accomplish this is to lower your thermostat, especially if you’ll be away from home for a large portion of the day. You can potentially save five percent on your overall home-heating costs by lowering your thermostat just two degrees. The same applies if you lower it another two degrees, and so forth.
Has your furnace received regular maintenance? If not, you just might be calling an HVAC service to report that you don’t have any heat in your home. While there are other reasons for furnaces to unexpectedly cease to work, up to 75% of the calls received during the winter for this reason are usually related to a lack of maintenance, according to some HVAC experts.
If your air conditioner didn’t function optimally prior to the colder weather setting in, you may need a new air conditioning installation as well. Even though you may be more concerned with staying warm at the present time, it’s likely that you’ll want to have an energy-efficient central air conditioning installation once the seasons change again.
Do you have a duct air conditioning system? Even though your system may operate well, when the ducts leak, you can lose between 20% to 40% of the energy needed to cool your home. Even though today’s air conditioners use 50% less energy than they did in 1990, this is still a significant loss. Given this, you may want to discuss having a new air conditioning installation made. Since there are also ductless systems available, you may decide that you would prefer these over your existing model.
When you contact your local HVAC repair service to inspect and provide maintenance for your furnace, you can ask them whether or not it’s time to have a new furnace installed. If your existing furnace is on its last legs, your HVAC repair service may recommend a new energy-efficient HVAC system. Once you take care any weatherizing needs, your home will be cozy throughout the winter and cool and comfortable once the weather warms up.
