The past few months have definitely given your furnace a workout. The new year started off with some of the coldest temperatures we’ve seen in quite a while, and although it’s warmed up quite a bit in the last few weeks, your furnace still has a solid 5 or 6 works of hard work ahead of it.
Consider the following tips to both lower your heating costs and help ensure that your furnace finishes the season strong.
- Make sure your heat vents are clear. This may seem like an obvious one, but ‘tis the season for rearranging furniture. Whether you were moving things around to make room for a Christmas tree, or you had extra guests in your house and had to move beds or seating around, your furnishings may have moved around recently. Make sure that you didn’t cover or block any vents with a piece of furniture.
- Close the vents in unused rooms. Inversely, you may have opened up the vents in the upstairs guests rooms over the holidays while you had guests staying with you. If the rooms aren’t being used now, consider closing those vents up to avoid heating them unnecessarily.
- Use your windows strategically. Identify the windows that bring in the most direct sunlight. Open the curtains during the day to bring in some of that heat. Make sure to close them at night to reduce drafts. You should also make sure that the weather stripping is working properly, and that the windows are locked to provide the tightest close possible.
- Turn the heat up in small increments. If you get home from work and your house feels too cold, don’t turn the thermostat up to 74 knowing that you prefer it to be 68 – 70. You might think that it will warm up faster, but really you’re just making the furnace work harder.
- Replace the air filter regularly. Plain and simple, the dirtier the filter, the harder your furnace is working.
If you take these tips into consideration, your furnace could have many long and prosperous winter seasons ahead of it. And don’t forget to reward it after a long, hard season. Give your furnace the attention it deserves by making sure you get it routinely cleaned and checked by a professional. If you’re interested in protecting your investment and saving money, consider enrolling in the “No Problem Club” to ensure your furnace gets the attention it deserves.
