How to Heat Your Home for Less

All over the country home, heating costs are down during this winter of 2015-2016, at least on the fossil fuel side of the equation. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to reduce those costs even further while making a dent in your electricity bill at the same time.

• Dress a little bit warmer! Absolutely: there will be plenty of time to wear your shorts and sandals later on. For now, put on some nice comfortable sweats and warm socks when you get home so you don’t have to spike your thermostat to simulate a day at the beach.
• Open up those drapes and blinds. That way, you can let the sun do its work during the day by creating solar heat inside your home. Then, right around sunset, close your window fixtures to prevent that same free heat from escaping.
• Seal up those drafts. If you feel cold air from under a door or around your windows, you might need new weather-stripping, caulking, or maybe even replacement windows and doors. In the short term, roll up a bath or beach towel and place it along the bottom of your door. Or, invest in one or more of those newer and very effective door socks. You might even try covering certain windows with plastic in overly drafty rooms.
• Where’d all that dust come from? Is your house noticeably dustier than it should be? If so, there’s a good chance you have a crack or leak in one of your ducts. When that happens, air is pulled into the ducts from your attic which then finds its way into your home. At the same time, heat is escaping into the attic where you least need it. The solution? Find the source of the leak and, if possible, seal it with duct tape for at least a temporary fix.

Another surefire way to help reduce home heating costs is with a professional system cleaning and inspection by Conway Services. In fact, why not contact us now provided it’s been a year or longer since heating system preventative maintenance was last performed. In addition to lower heating costs, annual preventative maintenance should result in fewer and less costly repairs plus a longer system lifespan.