Trying to ensure your home stays sufficiently warm throughout the cold Nashua winter can put a major strain on your finances. In New Hampshire, heating is usually the biggest contributor to a household’s monthly energy expenses. Older homes have high heating costs because they lack sufficient insulation and have numerous places where heat escapes. This allows cold air to seep in from outside. While heating will always be a major expense, taking some of the steps in this article will help you save money this winter.
1. Schedule Professional Heating Maintenance
Whether you heat your house with a furnace, a heat pump, or a boiler, having it professionally serviced before winter will always result in lower heating costs. All HVAC systems are prone to developing various issues that decrease their performance and cause them to work less efficiently. Regular maintenance helps overcome and prevent most of these issues, ensuring the heating system can operate at peak performance. The problems you can encounter, and the maintenance requirements, depend on the type of heating system you have.
Professional HVAC maintenance provides additional benefits beyond just ensuring your heating system works efficiently. A well-maintained heating system is less likely to break down over the winter. Annual maintenance also almost always allows you to get more years of life out of your heating system before it needs a replacement.
2. Change the Air Filter in Your Heating System Regularly
Another essential part of maintaining a furnace or a heat pump system is changing the air filter. The air filter continually captures dust and other particles from the incoming air before it enters the furnace or HVAC air handler. Air filters can only hold so much dust and debris before they start getting clogged. When a filter is overly dirty, it becomes more difficult for the blower to draw air through it. The result is that less air is drawn into the furnace or air handler. This leads to less hot air flowing out of the vents and the heating system failing to cool as quickly or as effectively. That means the system must run for longer each time it comes on, resulting in it using more energy.
Never use an air filter for more than 90 days. However, certain factors can cause a filter to become clogged much more quickly, such as the presence of pets in the home. Air filters also get dirtier faster during the coldest parts of winter because the heating system runs more. To save on heating costs, check the filter at least once a month and replace it as soon as it starts looking gray or black.
3. Replace Your Outdated Heating System
While upgrading to a new heating system is a major expense, it can result in significant savings over time. This is especially true if you have an old conventional furnace, and you replace it with either a high-efficiency condensing furnace or a heat pump. With a condensing furnace, your heating costs will usually be at least 10-15% lower. A high-efficiency heat pump could allow you to cut your heating costs by one-third or possibly even more.
Variable-speed furnaces and heat pumps are great options to save money on heating costs. Traditional units have a single speed and always run at full power. Variable-speed units can run at anywhere from around 25% to 100% power and continually adjust their speed based on the current temperature in the house. Except for on much warmer days, a variable-speed heating system will typically run constantly. The only time it will shut off is if it’s already running on the lowest possible speed and the house gets warmer than the thermostat setting. Despite running continuously, variable-speed systems are extremely efficient since they use less energy when operating at a lower speed. In most cases, these systems will operate at 50% power or less around 80% of the time.
4. Upgrade to a Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat
Switching from a standard thermostat to a Wi-Fi smart thermostat can also save you a significant amount on your heating and air conditioning costs. Most smart thermostats today have learning capabilities that allow them to adjust the temperature settings based on your behavior. The motion sensor in the thermostat detects the hours when the house is unoccupied during the day and then when everyone is at home.
Most homeowners can see an 8-12% reduction in their annual heating and air conditioning costs by switching to a smart thermostat. However, the savings you can expect depend on how energy efficient your heating system is and how much it runs.
5. Switch to a Zoned Heating System
Unless you have a small single-level house, upgrading to a zoned heating system can provide significant benefits in terms of both energy savings and improved comfort. Many central HVAC systems are set up as a single zone and controlled by one centrally located thermostat. That means the system always provides heating to the entire house.
A zoned system divides the house into different areas or zones. Instead of the system being controlled by a single thermostat, there’s a thermostat in each zone. There are metal dampers at various points in the ductwork, with each corresponding to a single zone. Whenever a zone needs to be heated, its thermostat sends a signal for the zone’s damper to open, which allows hot air to flow into the zone. Most zoned systems are also variable-speed, allowing them to adjust the amount of heat they distribute based on the number of zones that are currently open.
One of the main reasons a zoned system can save you on heating costs is that it eliminates the need to keep unoccupied areas as warm as the rest of the house. By lowering the temperature in unoccupied zones, the HVAC system can run at a lower speed and consume less energy. Zoned systems also eliminate issues with cold and hot spots, as each zone receives exactly as much heating as it needs to maintain the right temperature.
6. Insulate Your Attic and Seal Air Leaks
If your house is older and drafty, professional air sealing and insulation could lower your heating costs by 30% or more. Making sure your attic floor is insulated keeps air inside and prevents significant heat loss. Sealing air leaks around windows, doors, and the rest of the exterior structure also helps keep a house warmer by preventing cold air from seeping in from outside.
For 30+ years, Joyce Cooling & Heating Inc. has been helping home and business owners throughout the Greater Nashua area with all their heating and air conditioning needs. We offer professional maintenance services and can service all makes and models of furnaces, boilers, and heat pumps. As a Lennox Premier Dealer and a Mitsubishi Elite Contractor, we offer a range of high-efficiency furnaces and heat pumps, too. We also specialize in providing smart thermostat installation. To schedule service or learn more about how we can help you lower your heating costs this winter, contact us today.
