Energy Tips For Heating & Cooling Your Home

In the winter, close your draperies and shades during the night to slow down the rate at which the heat radiates through the windows. Open them back up on sunny winter days to take advantage of the solar heating effect. Also, consider installing tight fitting blinds.

Run your window air-conditioner only on hot days, with the fan set on high speed. In very humid weather set the fan at a lower speed to provide less cooling, but more moisture removal.

Consider installing ceiling fans in the rooms where you spend the most time. The air movement that a ceiling fan provides not only produces a cooling breeze in the summer, it also mixes the air in your home and makes for a more even temperature. By reversing the blade rotation in the winter, it forces hot air that has risen to the ceiling back down toward the floor.

In the summer set your air conditioner thermostat no lower than 78 degrees F. In the winter set your heating thermostat no higher than 70 degrees F.

Check the furnace and air conditioning filter monthly. Clean and replace them as needed. Dirty filters make the fan and compressor work harder to properly heat or cool your home, thereby using more energy.

With a heat pump, when turning up the thermostat in heating mode, gradually raise the setting in 2-degree increments. Be sure to allow enough time for the heat pump to satisfy the thermostat before raising the temperature again. This should keep the auxiliary heat from coming on.

Don’t set your thermostat on a setting colder than norm when you first turn on your air-conditioning system. It will not cool any faster, but it will use more energy.

If you have ducts for your heating and cooling system, you should tape and seal all joints, and then insulate the ducts, especially those in the attic.

If you have a heating system that has a thermostat in every room (like baseboard or ceiling cable), close off any unoccupied rooms and turn down the thermostats. Do not do this with a ducted system. Shutting vents on a central system will not save any energy and may put undo stress on the system’s components.

Plant trees on the east and west sides of you home to help shade I from the strong summer sun, but remember not to plant the trees within 20 feet of overhead power lines.

Keep windows near your thermostat tightly closed. Drafts will keep your furnace working even though the rest of the room has reached a comfortable temperature.

Limit naturally vented wood or gas fireplace use to emergency or special occasions. Routine daily use in conjunction with your operating central heating system will increase your heating energy cost.