The costs for heating your house depend on a series of factors, such as your house’s insulation, size and efficiency of the furnace and your daily routine. If you heating bill is significantly higher than average, you have to identify the cause.
Here are the most frequent 5 reasons for expensive heating bills and what you can do to remedy the situation:
- Poor insulation allows warm air to live the house and your furnace works overtime to compensate for the heat loss. There are a few simple, inexpensive DIY projects that improve a house’s insulation and help reduce your heating bills. Apply sealant strips around all exterior doors, use a sealer to patch around the edges of the window frames, insulate the attic and the basement, install drywall over cold, cement walls.
- Old, poorly maintained, or incorrectly sized furnace. New furnaces have a high Annual Fuel Energy Efficiency (AFUE), usually over 95%. This means that over 95% of the energy is transformed into heat. Older furnaces, however, have lower AFUE – around 80%. Therefore, older models of furnaces use with around 15% to 20% more energy than recent models. Also, a furnace that is not sized correctly for the house or one that is not properly maintained will use excessive amounts of energy. The solution for such situation is obvious: try to have your old furnace replaced and make sure you hire a competent company for the job. If you pick Mr.Furnace, we will help you pick the most suitable furnace for your needs and we offer regular maintenance services.
- Not using the thermostat efficiently. The thermostat is an excellent tool for saving energy, if you use it properly. Set lower temperatures for the hours of the day/days of the week that you are not around the house. Also, you have the option to install a zoning system for your house. In this case, a central control panel and several thermostats allow you to set lower a lower temperature for the areas of the house you are not using every day.
- Dirty ducts, pipes or radiators also have a negative effect on your energy bill. Debris, rust and limescale prevent hot air or hot water circulating properly throughout the house’s heating system. This means that your furnace is using energy, but the house doesn’t get warmer. It’s important to have the ducts, pipes and radiators checked and cleaned regularly by professionals.
- Bad habits such as not closing the windows while the furnace is working, covering the radiators with thick curtains or pieces of furniture or blocking the heating vents will cost you money. Before airing the house out, set a low temperature on the thermostat, and make sure that all the radiators or the heating vents are not blocked with furniture or other items.
