Common Home Heating Mistakes Explained by Heating Service Professionals

Heating your home inefficiently will lead you to using more energy, which will in turn raise the cost of your utility bills. Here are a few ways you can change the way you heat your home to save energy and money this winter season!

Not Lowering the Temperature When Sleeping or Away from Home

When you're in bed or away from home, lowering the temperature by about ten degrees saves energy, but doesn't require the heating system to run too long to get the temperature back up again. The higher the temperature difference between the inside of your home and the outside, the more heat loss through the walls, windows, and doors that occurs. Therefore, decreasing the temperature difference automatically with a programmable thermostat when you're sleeping or away from your home, will lower the heat loss to the outside.

Using the Fireplace

Fire in a fireplace sets up a natural convection pattern where the heated air rises up above it and out the chimney and gets replaced by air from your home. This replacement air that gets sent up the chimney was heated by your furnace. Therefore, the fire acts like the vent fan in your bathroom that sends heated air up through its flue and draws in cold air from outside. The difference between the two is that the fireplace radiates some heat into the home. This isn't enough to replace the wasted furnace heat drawn up through the chimney.

If your heating system is old or requires adjustment, call for heating repair in Birmingham AL today!