Ways to Save Heating Costs During the Winter
Falling temperatures don’t have to mean rising heating bills. We’ve put together five simple ways to reduce your heating costs and share some technical information on fuel efficiency.
** Use small room heaters to heat just one room a time. Do this instead of using your home's central heating to heat the whole house all day. This works well if you spend most day of the day in a home office or in the evening when you are in a bedroom. **Switch to EnergyStar Appliances. Upgrading your older appliances to EnergyStar appliances can save you 15 to 30% during the heating season. ** Let the sun in. Open your blinds during the day to soak up the natural warmth of the sun. Close them again at night to keep the heat in. ** Use a programmable thermostat. No more forgetting to turn down the heat before you leave during the day or when you go to bed. ** Replace your furnace filter regularly. Replacing your furnace filter when it's dirty will allow your furnace to operate more efficiently. |
Furnace Efficiency: AFUE - Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency Rating
It is estimated at around 25% of the furnaces in American homes are more than 20 years old. These older furnaces are often inefficient, sending up 20% of the heat they produce out the chimney.
A common measurement of furnace efficiency is the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency - AFUE. AFUE as a measurement of a percentage of heat delivered for each unit of fuel supplied. Older gas furnaces may have an AFUE of around 80% which means the furnace converts 80% of the fuel into heat for your home, while expelling the other 20% outside the home. A newer, high-efficiency furnace can operate at up to 95% AFUE. This can add up to real savings. Depending on the age and efficiency of your old furnace, a new furnace could pay for itself in lower energy bills in as little as 5-8 years. We can all think of better things to spend our money on than inefficient heating! Call All Seasons Comfort for walk-through on ways to save!
We are ALWAYS here to help answer your home heating questions. |