Practical Steps to Protect Your Home from Drafts
Everyone wants to stay toasty-warm during the winter, but no one enjoys paying sky-high heating bills. Reduce heating costs while keeping your family comfortable with these five tips from AirNow Cooling & Heating.
1. Clear the Space Around Your Vents
Be sure nothing is blocking air flow around your heating and cooling vents. Furniture, curtains, rugs and even the kids’ or pets’ toys can stop vents from properly distributing air into the room. It may be as simple as adjusting drapes slightly after the cat jumps down from the window sill or moving the couch a couple of inches to the side, but this quick fix can help you lower your heating bill.
2. Control Your Water Heater
Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees. According to this HVAC business, The difference isn’t noticeable in terms of comfort, but it takes a lot less time and energy to heat water than at the typical preset temperature of 140 degrees. This can lead to as much as an 11% change in water heating costs. Reduce further heat loss by wrapping your water heater in an insulation blanket.
3. Regulate Temperatures with Curtains
Draperies are effective at keeping cold air out during the winter, especially if you have heavy or thermal curtains. Unless your home is particularly drafty, keep them open where the sun is shining to welcome heat in. Pay attention to where the sun is throughout the day, closing curtains on the shady side of the house or building.
4. Maintain Your Furnace
Routine maintenance keeps your furnace running efficiently and helps reduce heating costs. Whether or not you do it yourself, change your filter every month. Have the furnace cleaned yearly to ensure proper operation. You’ll save an average of 5 percent on heating costs, and scheduled maintenance is much cheaper than paying for emergency repairs.
5. Stop Drafts in Their Tracks
Cover your windows in insulating window film to reduce heat loss. Kits are available to make the job easier if you go the DIY route. In less visible areas, covering older windows or sliding-glass doors in heavy-duty plastic stops drafts from cooling the room and raising heating costs. Weather-stripping helps prevent cold air from entering through gaps under doors, and draft stoppers reduce air leaks at window sills or beneath doors. You can even make your own draft snakes from material or panty hose filled with beans or kitty litter. Caulking is the perfect solution to sealing cracks or gaps, cutting heating expenses by at least 10 percent.
Follow our advice and watch your heating costs drop along with winter temps. Visit AirNow Cooling & Heating in Millbrook AL now for more ways to lower your heating bill.