While the Coachella Valley may not experience extremely cold winters, temperatures can drop to an uncomfortable level. Having a reliable home heating system is a must to stay comfortable throughout the colder winter season. These are our best tips for optimizing heating system efficiency to keep your energy bills in check.
Schedule Professional Maintenance
One of the most important things you can do is to schedule professional maintenance service each year. This is ideal for ensuring energy-efficient operation of your unit and greatly reducing its risk of experiencing a breakdown. Routine maintenance ensures proper heater safety and will keep your warranty coverage active.
Perform Homeowner Maintenance
As a homeowner, you need to ensure you’re checking and replacing your system’s air filter regularly. Aim for checking it each month and replacing it whenever you can’t see through the filter. A common schedule for filter replacements is every 30 to 90 days.
Check your vents and registers at the beginning of the season. Ensure they’re fully open and there are no obstructions blocking them. You want to achieve at least 3 feet of open space around each vent and register to encourage adequate airflow. Additionally, if you rely on a traditional heat pump or a ductless mini-split system, routinely check the outdoor condenser unit to ensure it’s free from debris.
Seal Up Air Leaks
It doesn’t matter how efficient your heating system is. If your home has many air leaks, this will decrease efficiency. These leaks can allow cold air to penetrate your home and lower its overall temperature. Air leaks can develop over time on your exterior walls. They’re most prominent around door and window frames and around your foundation.
You can run your hand around these locations and look for a difference in temperature. Be sure to seal up any air leaks with weatherstripping, caulk, or even expanding spray foam. You can use specialized foam pads that sit behind the cover plate for your outlets and light switches to reduce air flow.
Increase Your Insulation
Insulation provides a thermal barrier between the temperature inside your home and the outside. If your home is lacking insulation or simply doesn’t have an adequate amount of it, you’ll notice a consistent decrease in the temperature of your indoor air. It’s best to upgrade your insulation to ensure it either meets or exceeds the R-value recommendation for the local building codes in the area.
Use a Smart Thermostat
If you don’t have a smart thermostat yet, now is the time to get one. These devices offer all the benefits of a programmable thermostat with many other convenient features. You can turn the temperature down remotely when you’re away to save your system from running unnecessarily. You can get real-time data on how your settings are affecting your system’s energy usage. This can allow you to make better-informed decisions on how to effectively alter your thermostat settings to reduce expenses. You can even see in real time how your changes are affecting your system’s usage.
Try a Whole-Home Humidifier
California’s dry climate can become much worse during the colder winter season. Dry air doesn’t retain heat as long as moist air. This can result in you turning up your thermostat to a higher temperature so that you can be more comfortable in your home.
A whole-home humidification system can ensure your indoor humidity is at a reasonable level. This will allow the heat your furnace produces to remain in the air for longer. You’ll likely find you can turn the temperature down on your heater and remain comfortable.
Use Ceiling Fans
Many California homeowners are familiar with using ceiling fans during the summer to boost comfort while reducing their cooling bills. However, you can do the same thing in the winter when you operate your ceiling fan in its reverse direction. This will recirculate hot air that naturally travels to the ceiling back down to the floor. This can keep you more comfortable without having to increase the temperature setting on your thermostat.
Upgrade Outdated Equipment
If your existing heating system is over 15 years old, it’s time to consider an upgrade. The efficiency of heating systems will starkly decrease as they age. Newer units are more efficient than those made just a decade ago. Furthermore, you have the option of choosing high-efficiency heating systems. These come at a premium price but can provide vast energy savings for decades.
Let in the Sunlight
One great tactic for reducing the demand on your heating system in winter is to use natural sunlight to your advantage. Open blinds and curtains to allow direct sunlight to pour inside your home on winter days. Direct sunlight can naturally increase your indoor temperature, and the best part is that it’s completely free.
Consider Zone Temperature Control
If you have a larger home, a two-story home, or a home with uneven heating, you may want to consider using a zoning system. This setup gives you the ability to set different temperatures in different areas of your home. For example, many people with a two-story home complain that the upstairs gets overly hot while the downstairs is cold.
This is the natural process of heat rising. By having independent zones upstairs and downstairs, you can allow your heating system to provide heat solely for downstairs. This means it will run less to heat up your downstairs to your desired temperature without wasting energy further heating the upstairs.
Checking Your Ductwork
Ductwork plays a big role in your heater’s overall operating efficiency. If your ducting is full of debris, it will be more challenging for your heater to move air through it. This can lead to decreased heating in your home and longer run times for your heating system. Furthermore, gaps in your ducting can allow some of your hot air to escape before it makes it to the rooms in your home. Duct sealing and cleaning can be great services to consider, ensuring your ducting is optimizing your heater’s operating performance.
Get a Home Energy Audit
One other great tactic you can implement to optimize your heater’s performance is to schedule a home energy audit. This is where one of our heating professionals will come to your home and assess its efficiency. We’ll point out areas where your home is inefficient and recommend the best upgrades to make it more efficient. This will give you a clear game plan of what you need to do to have an energy-efficient home that supports optimal heater functioning.
A Note on Prompt Repairs
Anytime your heating system malfunctions, it’s best to get it evaluated. One of the biggest efficiency issues regarding a furnace is worn-out components. It’s best to get these issues repaired as promptly as possible to return your heater to its optimal operating efficiency.
Reliable Heating Maintenance Service
General Air Conditioning & Plumbing offers reliable heating maintenance in Thousand Palms. We can also assist with all your heating repair, new installation, and replacement needs. Call our office today to book your next appointment with one of our helpful HVAC technicians.
