A good heating system is essential in your Denver, CO home. Because homeowners don’t have a choice about heating their homes, they often settle for larger heating bills than necessary. You may not have a choice about heating your home, but you do have choices about how to heat your home. If you have a furnace providing you vital warmth for the winter, there are ways to reduce the amount of energy the unit wastes. Those heating bills don’t need to be as high as they are.
Bell Plumbing and Heating has many years of experience working with furnaces—we’ve been in business since 1926—and we’ve seen the ways people can waste energy without realizing it. We’ll help you get more from your furnace with these energy-saving tips:
- Keep the air filter clean: The furnace’s filter protects its internal mechanisms from damage. As the filter catches debris during heating season, it will become more and more clogged. This will start to choke off the airflow in the furnace, which will force the furnace to work much harder and waste energy. You might need to change the filter as often as once a month during the heating season, not only to save energy, but also to prevent possible repair needs.
- Manage the temperature: People tend to set the furnace at higher settings than necessary, usually because they think that the higher a furnace’s thermostat is set, the faster the furnace will heat a home. The truth is that a higher setting will only make the furnace work longer and waste energy. Do a thermostat set-back of 8–10°F during the time you’re a awake, and even farther when you’re asleep. To help with the lower temperature, add an extra clothing layer like a sweater when you’re indoor. U.S. government studies show that this simple set-back on the temperature can save you 18% annually from your bills.
- Invest in a high-efficiency furnace: If you have an older furnace that is losing efficiency because of age, consider replacing it with a high-efficiency condensing furnace. The current models can have AFUE ratings of up to 98%—almost no energy waste at all!
- Schedule regular maintenance: A furnace that receives annual check-ups and tune-ups from HVAC professionals will run with less strain, and consequently will waste less energy. Maintenance will also catch any repair needs that are causing inefficiency.
As you can see, it’s not tough to start saving energy with your furnace. Contact Bell Plumbing and Heating to sign up for our maintenance program, or to learn more about replacing your old, inefficient furnace. We can help you get quality heating in Denver, CO for this winter and many more to come.
