During the winter months, most people face higher utility bills from heating their homes. While keeping your home warm is vital to your family’s comfort, it doesn’t have to break the bank. There are simple ways to heat your home efficiently so that you can give yourself the gift of a fatter wallet this year.
Open Your Curtains To Heat Your Home Efficiently
Sunlight is a source of light and heat that costs you absolutely nothing to enjoy. While sunlight is scarce during the darkest season of the year, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t take advantage of it when the sun is out.
As soon as the sun rises, open all of the curtains in your home that cover east-facing windows. This will allow heat from the sun’s rays to enter your home to heat your home efficiently. Your furnace can get a little bit of a break, which will help to reduce your energy usage for a few hours a day.
Manage Your Thermostat
There will be times throughout the day that your home is empty. Some family members will be at work while others will be at school or out running errands. During the hours when your home is empty, it’s wasteful to keep your thermostat at its usual setting. Your furnace will be working hard to heat your home for hours, but there’s no one there to benefit from the warmth
This is a waste of energy and of money. To heat your home efficiently, program your thermostat. Set the timer to turn your thermostat down during the day while you and your family are gone, and to turn the thermostat up to a more comfortable temperature an hour before everyone returns home. You can also set your thermostat lower while you’re sleeping to see even more benefits.
Stop Cold Drafts
No matter how hard your furnace works to heat your home, it won’t be as effective if your home has air leaks that allow cold air inside. The most common areas for cold drafts are around windows and around doors. Cold drafts around your windows are usually caused by gaps in the window opening or gaps in the seals around the window panes.
Instead of trying to find the gaps, you can simply purchase rolls of plastic film insulation and install them over each of your windows to block the cold drafts. If you prefer a long-term solution, find the gaps and apply caulk or weatherstripping.
Consider Furniture Placement
The heat produced by your furnace is blown into your home through vents. These vents are often located on the floor. A mistake many homeowners make is placing furniture on top of these vents, blocking the heat. Sofas and other furniture will block and absorb a portion of the heat blown in. Reconsider where your furniture is arranged and move it away from vents to heat your home efficiently.
Checkpoint Home Inspections offers home inspections with thermal imaging that can identify areas of heat loss in your home so that you can take action to heat your home efficiently. Contact us to book an inspection on the North Oregon coast.