Heating and cooling your home uses more energy and drains more energy dollars than any other system in your home. Typically, 44% of your utility bill goes for heating and cooling. No matter what kind of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system you have in your house, you can save money and increase comfort by properly maintaining and upgrading your equipment. Remember though, an energy-efficient furnace or air-conditioner alone will not have as great an impact on your energy bills as using the whole house approach. By combining proper equipment, maintenance and upgrades with appropriate insulation, weatherization and thermostat setting, you can cut your energy bills in half.
Energy-Savings Tips: Heating
Whole-house Heating Tips
- Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable.
- Clean or replace filters on your furnace once a month.
- Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters and radiators as needed; make sure they’re not blocked by furniture, carpeting or drapes.
- Use kitchen, bath and other ventilating fans wisely; in just one hour, these fans can pull out a houseful of warmed or cooled air. Turn fans off as soon as they have done the job.
- Keep draperies and shades open on south facing windows during the heating season to allow sunlight it enter your home; close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.
- Close an unoccupied room that is isolated from the rest of the house, such as in a corner, and turn down the thermostat, or turn off the heating for that room or zone. Do not, however, turn the heating off if it adversely affects the rest of your system.
Gas Systems
Gas furnaces are rated for efficiency with an AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency). According to Oregon’s Energy Efficiency Standards, the minimum AFUE for central furnace systems now sold in Oregon is 0.78, which means that 78% of the fuel used by the furnace actually reaches your home’s ductwork as heat. The higher the AFUE, the more efficient the furnace. AFUE numbers in today’s furnaces range from 0.78 to around 0.90. Pioneer Home Comfort specializes in high-efficency gas furnaces for Portland, Oregon home heating, and offers a number of models and sizes to fit any Portland, Oregon home. Contact Pioneer for a free consultation on the best Gas furnaces for heating your Portland home.
Gas Furnace Tips
- Don’t block registers, vents or heating units with furniture of drapes. That makes your furnace work harder and uses more energy.
- Consider installing a programmable thermostat. You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours with an automatic setback or programmable thermostat.
- Programmable thermostats help you control the amount of time your system is operating according to a pre-set schedule; this prevents the system from running when you don’t need to use the energy, such as during times when you are asleep or away from the house.
Heat Pumps
If you use electricity to heat your home, consider installing an energy efficient heat pump system. Heat pumps are the most efficient form of electric heating in moderate climates, providing three times more heating than the equivalent amount of energy they consume in electricity. There are three types of heat pumps: air-to –air, water source and ground source. They collect heat from the air, water or ground outside your home and concentrate it for use inside. Heat pumps do double duty as a central air conditioner. They can also cool your home by collecting the heat inside your house and effectively pumping it outside. A heat pump can trim the amount of electricity you use for heating as much as 30% to 40%.
Heat Pump Tips
- Do not set back the heat pump’s thermostat manually if it causes the electric resistance heating to come on. This type of heating, which is often used as a back up to the heat pump, is more expensive.
- Clean or change filters once a month or as needed and maintain the system according to manufacturer’s instructions.
