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10 Heating Tips for Winter
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Blog 12/23/19

10 Heating Tips for Winter

10 Heating Tips for Winter

The weather outside is frightful, but the warmth of your home is delightful. When you breathe out and your breath shows, call a pro, call a pro, call a pro. This winter don’t suffer through the cold of the season. The folks at Bill Howe Heating & Air are here to help you fill your home with a comfortable temperature and ensure it stays that way. Here are ten heating and energy-saving tips for winter to heat your home and keep it cozy during this season:

1. The Sun is Your Friend

Take advantage of the daylight by opening the blinds or drapes on any windows. Sunlight is a great way to give your home some natural warmth without running up your energy bill. When night falls, close the blinds and drapes to create insulation and preserve the warm air in your home.

2. Speaking of Windows

Weather-proofing your windows can have an amazing effect. Low efficiency windows sap your home’s warmth. An upgrade to storm windows will reduce heat loss but it will cost you a pretty penny to install. A cost friendly alternative is covering your windows with window shrink. They can be found at local drugstores and larger retail stores.

3. Insulation

Adding insulation to your walls and attic is the most effective way to maintain heat in the home. However, it is not the simplest task so call the professionals at Bill Howe Heating & Air to help. From here, our certified technicians can

4. Find the leak

No matter how you decide to heat your home, it is equally if not more important to keep it warm. If you fear there is a draft coming through your house use this handy test to locate it. Light a small candle or incense and slowly “trace” around the edge of your doors, window frames, and vents. If the flame flickers or the smoke is being pulled it means there is a draft. Once you have located the draft make sure to block it using draft stoppers. Caulking or foam sealant works for non-movable sources (ex. Window frames). For movable sources (ex. doors or windows) use weather stripping. If you own pets remember to check their pet door as they are prime culprits for drafts.

5. Smart Thermostat

Programmable thermostats are a great tool to help maintain warmth without high utility costs. You can preset temperatures to keep your home cooler when you are out of the house and warmer just before you get home. Save some more money by dropping the temperature when you climb into bed and then raising it back up just before you wake up in the morning.

6. Furniture placement

There is nothing quite like the comfort of your favorite piece of furniture, but placing it in front of the heating register is a common mistake. Blocking the heating register means only that one piece of furniture absorbs all the warmth while the rest of the home remains cold. Rearrange your furniture away from the heat source to give a more even warmth within the room. The same goes for curtains or drying clothes. Any obstruction will cause your heater to work that much harder to warm your home.

7. Oven

Your heating system isn’t the only way to stay warm. Using your oven to cook dinner is an ideal way to warm your home and make food at the same time. Ovens radiate heat that spreads throughout the household. It is the perfect excuse to make cookies, cakes, and pies! Just tell yourself you are trying to stay warm.

8. Fireplaces

Fireplaces are the perfect picture of a cozy home. What you may not know is that your fireplace is a big energy loser. Warm air naturally rises; fireplaces pull the warm air out of your home and it is lost up through the chimney. When you are not using the fireplace close the fireplace damper to retain all the heat in your home. In order to keep the heat circulating reverse the rotation of your ceiling fans. Switching them to clockwise rotation with push the warm air outwards returning it to the ground level keep your home toasty.

9. Humidity

Winter air is incredibly dry which is part of the reason it is so cold. Adding humidity to the home will increase warmth and give it a cozy feeling. There are several ways to add moisture to the air. The simplest is buying a humidifier machine. For those who prefer a more homeopathic method you can add well-watered houseplants to your home, place shallow containers of water on top of heating elements like a radiator, or dry your clothes on a drying rack inside your home (an added bonus: you will save money by not using your dryer). Be careful not to overdo the humidity though. If you see moisture buildup, also known as condensation, on your windows (not caused by a recent shower) then you’ve raised the humidity too high. The target range is 30-50% humidity.

10. Maintain What You Have

Above all else, the object that will keep your home warmest is a well-tuned and efficient heating system. An up-to-date heating system can be the difference between having a holly-jolly heating bill and receiving a lump of coal in the mail. To make sure your heating system is up to par, give the professionals at Bill Howe Heating & Air a call to schedule an inspection. During the inspection, a certified technician will inspect your heating systems in their entirety including the ducts, vents, heating unit and thermostat.
With the cooler months right around the corner, the pros at Bill Howe Heating & Air can check your system to make sure your central heating system or heat pump is running at maximum efficiency. Click below to set up your appointment or call 1-800-BILL-HOWE (1-800-245-5469) today.

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