If you’re tired of wasting energy and paying for high monthly energy bills, it may be time to evaluate your whole-house performance. Use the following tips when you inspect your home for energy loss and find out what you can do about it.
- Check for air leaks – Air leaks to the outdoors and attic are a big factor in most homes’ energy loss. Check your doors, floors, ceiling, walls and windows for leaks, and seal them with weatherstripping, caulking or spray foam depending on the situation.
- Check your ductwork – Have a contractor inspect your ductwork in order to repair any leaks, or repair them yourself if you feel comfortable with the job. Just make sure you use mastic sealant or metal tape rather than duct tape, which doesn’t work very well. Insulate ducts that run through unconditioned areas to prevent further heat loss during the winter.
- Check your attic – Adding or improving insulation to your attic will prevent warm air from escaping into your attic during the winter. This will help keep heat in your living spaces, allowing your heating system to work more efficiently.
- Check your windows – Are your windows single-paned models? Replace them with double-paned windows to reduce heat gain and air leakage.
- Check your HVAC system – Hire a contractor to inspect your HVAC system to make sure it’s working as efficiently as possible. A fall HVAC tune-up is a good habit to get into.
- Check your lighting – If you use halogen and incandescent bulbs, replace them with fluorescent or LED bulbs. These use less energy, last longer and cut down on unnecessary heat.
- Install ceiling fans – Using ceiling fans in conjunction with your cooling and heating systems will help improve home comfort and reduce energy usage throughout the year. Flick the switch to clockwise fan-blade rotation in the winter, to blow air upward. This will displace and scatter warm air that collects near the ceiling.
- Check your appliances – Replace old, inefficient appliances with Energy Star approved models.
A professional technician can help you determine and improve your whole-house performance. For the best HVAC service in the Metro-East area, please contact us at Ernst Heating & Cooling.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Hamel, Illinois and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, visit our blog.Â