Heating Tips for Your Home

Your state of the art heating system should be able to keep your home comfortable and toasty all winter long; however, you shouldn’t have to pay a ton in heating costs to get that warm, fuzzy feeling around the holidays. Are you hoping to enjoy that cozy environment without racking up heating charges? If so, here are a few heating tips to help boost the efficiency of your heating system.

Balancing Your Humidity Level

Everyone knows that in the summer humidity can alter the comfort in your home and have many side effects, but did you know humidity is also an important factor to keeping your home comfortable in the winter? It is actually possible to have too little humidity in your home, which can cause problems for your home and yourself. By not having enough humidity in the air, it can cause it to be overly dry.

Overly dry air, or air without enough humidity, will affect your home and your health in a few different ways. Dry air can possibly cause dry skin, irritated throat and sinuses, and also itchy eyes. In addition, air with low humidity is known to dry out sinus membranes, causing you to feel congested. For further reading on how low humidity affects your health, visit Dr. Mercola’s site for a full article.

Another problem that can arise from not having enough humidity in your air is cracks in your furniture or home structure. This is caused by the dry air sapping the moisture out of your wooden fixtures, causing cracks and seams to separate. Dry air also holds less heat than moist air, so it could cause higher energy bills.

If this is an issue you feel you are living with, give O’Brien a call; we will gladly guide you on how to balance your humidity level during the winter and summer; this way you won’t have to experience the side effects of either high humidity or low humidity.

Sealing Up Your Home for Energy Efficiency

Your heating system works hard to keep your home warm during those crisp winter days; if your home isn’t properly sealed, it’ll have to work even harder. This is why it’s so important to properly seal your home this winter in order to save money on your energy bills, as well as prevent your system from overworking.

If there are spaces for air to escape from your home, you can benefit from covering them or sealing them. Look for spaces by your doors, windows, attics, or anywhere else air can be escaping from your home. If the warm air is leaking out of your home, then your system will have to work even harder to maintain your desired temperature. This will cause your energy bill to rise, and will cause more wear on your system. Do your system and your wallet a favor, and take a little time to seal your home for the winter.

Joining Annual Heating System Maintenance

Having your heating system annually inspected is one of the most beneficial services that you can do for your system. No matter the age or make, every heating system will benefit from an annual maintenance inspection. This will ensure your system runs at its peak efficiency and can help prevent costly repairs. If you sign up for O’Brien’s Energy Savings Club, we will send you reminders for when it’s time for your system to have its annual inspection.

When you schedule maintenance, one of our professional service technicians will clean and inspect your system; we can help to make sure it is running at its most efficient. If anything looks troublesome, you’ll be notified before O’Brien completes any repairs. If you do need any repairs, it’s best to have repairs taken care of right away to help prevent other costly issues. Ultimately, by scheduling maintenance just once a year, you can help lower your energy bills and extend the lifespan of your system.

Investing in a Programmable Thermostat

If your home currently doesn’t have a programmable thermostat, it should be something to consider. Programmable thermostats are an easy way to save money on your energy bill; it can also prevent your system from overworking when it doesn’t have to. What a programmable thermostat can do is set a schedule for heating and cooling. If you know that you are not going to be home all day, there’s no need for your system to run as though you are. A programmable thermostat will let you set the temperature lower to save energy while you’re away. By the time you’re home, you can walk right back into a comfortable temperature.

The temperature can also be adjusted while you sleep and can be scheduled back to the temperature of your liking by the time your alarm goes off. By reducing the amount of work your heating system needs to do, just by simply changing the temperature while you’re not at home, you’ll save money on your energy bills and prevent unnecessary wear on your system. In the long run, it is a great investment. Feel free to call O’Brien today to get more information.

Cleaning Your Filters

This is a quick way to help make sure your home is heating at its top efficiency. It is always good to make sure that you regularly maintain your filters. Whether you change them, or have ones that you clean, it’s important that they are properly taken care of. Different systems and homes have schedules that vary for filter changing, but what’s easy about filters is that you can usually see the build-up. If your system has dirty filters, it will have to work harder to maintain the temperature, causing higher energy bills and wear on your system. If you are unsure when or how to change your filters, give us a call and we can assist you.

Letting the Light In

A second simple way to heat your home efficiently is to use the sun’s natural heat. Each morning if you open your blinds and curtains, the sun’s natural heat will help keep your home warm, for free! In the morning, you can open blinds for windows that face the East; in the afternoon, you would just switch it up to the windows that face the West. Not only does it warm your home, but it can brighten up your day!

“I have an annual maintenance contract with O’Brien Service Company because my Trane HVAC unit is almost 11 years old. Each year a service technician comes out and checks my unit to be sure it is running properly and does any maintenance needed. Chance T. was here last week and arrived promptly and went under the house to perform maintenance checks. I was pleased with his efficiency and the fact that O’Brien will be here to help if there is a problem with my heating system this winter.!” -Linda D. (Wilmington 28411)