The winters in the Tucson, AZ area can get much chillier than many people think. As a result, your household heating costs can get quite expensive due to frequently running your furnace. That puts you in a position where you have to choose between keeping your home comfortable and protecting your finances. However, if you take certain measures to reduce your heating bills this year, you can have your cake and eat it, too. Below, you’ll find a handful of the most effective methods for conserving heat without you or your family needing to be uncomfortable during the winter.
1. Schedule Heating Maintenance
Scheduling professional heating maintenance is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your home. It offers a variety of significant benefits, one of which is greatly improved energy efficiency for your furnace. If you’re in the greater Tucson area, our skilled technicians at Fusion Plumbing & Air can take care of this service for you. Our team will thoroughly clean your heating system and check for any issues that could be impacting its efficiency. As a result, the appliance won’t require as much energy to do its job effectively, which will directly lower your heating costs.
Yearly heating maintenance also offers all of these advantages:
- Improved heating performance
- Longer furnace lifespan
- Better indoor air quality
- Lowered risk of mechanical problems
2. Locate and Seal Air Leaks
There could be multiple air leaks throughout your household without you being aware of them. These openings tend to show up near the edges of doors and windows, and they don’t need to be large to impact your heating costs. When the weather gets chilly, much of the warmth your furnace produces will consistently escape through the air leaks in your home. So, your heating system will need to work significantly harder to effectively warm your living space. That not only wastes energy, but it also adds to the wear and tear on the appliance. Periodically, you should search your house for these leaks and thoroughly seal any that you encounter. All you should need for the job is weather stripping and caulking, both of which can be purchased from any hardware store.
3. Purchase a Smart Thermostat
These days, modern thermostats are very advanced and come equipped with many useful features. They can also make a positive difference in your household heating costs. If you want to keep your monthly electricity bills in check throughout 2023, consider upgrading to a quality smart thermostat. For one thing, you can program your smart thermostat to only turn on the heat when you need it each day, which eliminates lots of wasted heat. Plus, modern thermostats can track your energy usage habits over time. Then, you can analyze the information and identify areas where you’re using more energy than necessary. That makes it easier to improve your habits and cut down significantly on your energy costs. Smart thermostats offer many other benefits as well, and they’re affordable and easy to install.
4. Clean Your Household Air Vents
If the air vents in your home are obstructed or overly dirty, they’ll directly worsen the performance and efficiency of your heating system. This is because as the furnace circulates warm air, it has to push through those vents to get to the rooms of your house. So, if those vents are blocked, it’s much harder for the air to get through, which forces the furnace to take on more strain and use more energy. Plus, if there’s a lot of dust and dirt inside of your vents, then it ends up getting circulated into the air you breathe every day.
Fortunately, it’s very easy to clean your air vents. First, make sure that nothing is blocking the airflow of any vents, such as furniture or clutter. Then, using a screwdriver, remove the cover panel from each register. At that point, a vacuum cleaner with a hose extension should be perfect for clearing out any contaminants. Ideally, you should do this once per month to keep your heating and cooling costs low and your HVAC system healthy.
5. Install Quality Attic Insulation
If you don’t have reliable attic insulation in your Tucson area home, you could be spending much more on heating than necessary. Hot air in your house naturally rises, so if there’s no barrier to stop it, the warm air from your heating system floats up to the top of your residence. As a result, most of it ends up lingering in your attic, where it isn’t doing any good for your family. In some cases, much of it may even seep out through your roof. That forces your furnace to run for longer and work harder, which wastes energy and puts additional wear and tear on the equipment. Having high-quality attic insulation installed can solve this problem. For example, when you have spray foam insulation, it serves as a barrier to keep the heat from drifting to the top of your home. So, the warm air stays where it needs to be to keep you and your family comfortable, and you end up saving quite a bit on your heating bills.
6. Get Your Ductwork Cleaned
Over time, various contaminants will inevitably accumulate inside of your home’s air ducts. These contaminants include dust mites, dirt, mold spores, pest droppings, dander, and random debris. If you go several years without having the ducts cleaned, all of those contaminants can start to cause a variety of problems, including worsened energy efficiency for your heating system. When your furnace runs, it’s constantly blowing warm air through your ductwork to reach the different rooms of your house. And if those pathways are packed with contaminant particles, the furnace has to increase its air pressure to successfully push through. That requires extra energy, which directly impacts your monthly heating bills. Dirty air ducts can also negatively affect your comfort, your indoor air quality, and the overall health of your HVAC system.
If possible, try to have your air ducts cleaned at least once every couple of years. And if you haven’t had it done in a long time, now is an excellent time to schedule an appointment. Your heating bills will be lower throughout 2023, you’ll have more control over your home’s climate, and your hired ductwork professionals will get to check for any damage, leaks, or other issues.
7. Give Your Furnace Breaks
Finally, the simplest way to reduce your heating bills in 2023 is to run your heater less frequently. You shouldn’t need to live with discomfort, but there may be times when you don’t really need the heat cranked up. For example, if you turn off the heater every night when you sleep, those eight hours per day can save you quite a bit of money. And when your home feels just a bit chilly, consider throwing on a sweatshirt rather than relying on your heating system. Even small chunks of time each day can add up to significant savings!
At Fusion Plumbing & Air, we’re proud to serve residents of the greater Tucson area with quality heating services. Our skilled experts also offer air conditioning services, plumbing services, drain cleaning, and water filtration. We’ve worked to establish a reputation for exceptional customer service and dependable work. Contact us at Fusion Plumbing & Air today to schedule an appointment!
