If you live in a colder part of the country, the onset of wintertime likely signals the onset of exorbitant utility bills. While keeping your residence comfortably heated all winter long should certainly be a priority, so too should conserving your financial resources. Luckily, these two concepts needn’t be mutually exclusive. There are a number of ways we add to our wintertime heating costs without even realizing it – and taking measures to correct these missteps stands to save you a significant sum. So, if affordable home heating is what you’re after, take care to avoid the following behaviors.
Allowing Furnace Issues to Linger
It’s in every homeowner’s best interest to keep their furnace operating at peak efficiency. The more easily your furnace is able to do its job, the less exorbitant your heating costs are likely to be. On the flipside, furnaces that are beset by a host of issues expend more effort, which often equates to higher utility costs. Additionally, the longer furnace issues are allowed to linger, the more pressing these issues are likely to become – and the more expensive they’ll be to repair.
To preemptively get a handle on this issue, make a point of having every furnace issue you encounter addressed by a knowledgeable professional. Yes, this will entail parting with a small amount of money, but it’s better to spend a little now than to spend a lot later. Even seemingly inconsequential issues can turn into enormous problems if left alone long enough, so regardless of how small a hiccup you’re dealing with, take care to do due diligence. So, the next time you find yourself asking, “How come the gas heater is not working?,” don’t hesitate to contact a seasoned heating and cooling specialist.
Forgoing Annual Furnace Service Visits
As previously stated, you should aim to keep your furnace in prime condition – and committing to annual service visits can prove tremendously helpful in this endeavor. Having your furnace serviced and inspected once a year can help prevent a wide assortment of costly issues and extend the life of the furnace. Experienced pros will have no problem locating, diagnosing and repairing an extensive range of problems. Again, shelling out a little bit of money for annual service visits stands to save you a princely sum in the long run.
Forgoing Annual Roof Inspections
Intense winter weather can cause quite a bit of damage to most roofs. Roofing that spends months buried under snow and assorted wintertime moisture can fall victim to warping, hole formation and other undesirable consequences. Hole formation, in particular, can provide cold outdoor air with a clear entrance into your home and warm indoor with a clear exit. If such issues are left alone long enough, damage can range from a hole-laden roof to a full-on roof collapse.
As is the case with furnace maintenance, annual inspections can do your home heating efforts a world of good. Having your home’s roofing meticulously inspected at least once a year can ensure that any weather damage is quickly identified and repaired before it has a chance to create larger problems.
Using Inefficient Doors and Windows
Despite serving an important purpose, regular doors and windows generally don’t do the best job of sealing in air. Regardless of whether they’re opened or closed, many doors and windows are unable to fully prevent the escape of warm air or the entrance of cool air. Conversely, energy-efficient doors and windows, which are composed of much thicker materials, keep escaped air to the barest of minimums. As a result, your furnace isn’t constantly working to correct the temperature differences that stem from escaped air. So, while upgrading to energy-efficient doors and windows may set you back a little in the short term, they stand to make up for it in the form of long-term savings.
Wintertime heating costs are cause for dread among people who hail from colder parts of the U.S. Depending on the size of your residence, you may be shelling out hundreds of dollars per month in order to keep you and your family sufficiently warm. To make matters worse, many people engage in behaviors that increase their home heating costs without even realizing it. In the interest of reducing your wintertime utility bills and warming your residence in an efficient manner, avoid making the mistakes discussed above.
