Winter is fast approaching, which means this is the best time for you to prepare your furnace. As the days get shorter and temperatures drop, you will likely spend more time at home and indoors. In a way, we hibernate, just like bears. This is a great opportunity for you and your family to bond and makes beautiful memories together.
But with more time spent indoors, you should expect your energy bills to be higher this time of year. To help you better understand why this is so, Marsh Heating and Air Conditioning will give you reasons for increasing energy costs in the cold season. We are your reliable Burnsville heating company.
More People, More Electricity
Winter is no respecter of people; it strikes everyone and every family. Since more people stay at home, more people will use electricity for different tasks. From bathing to cooking; from house cleaning to washing clothes to charging electronic devices, your meter will experience a major bump this coming winter.
From a business perspective, your power generator and provider will have to supply more electricity to keep up with the demand, which likely translates to higher rates. Sometimes, the distribution costs can be as much as half of the total bill.
Old Furnace, More Fuel
If your home is equipped with an old, inefficient furnace, you will likely see a swell in your monthly heating costs. A furnace as old as 20 years or more will have an efficiency rating of 60 percent, at best. That means only 60 percent of the fuel is converted into usable heat. The remaining 40 percent goes out the chimney or elsewhere.
Old furnaces are also notorious for delivering inconsistent heating. Some rooms will be warmer than others. As your heating system ages, its output also dwindles. This problem can also be attributed to a dirty unit, but for the most part, an old furnace uses more energy without necessarily meeting your heating demands.
A Faulty Thermostat Equals More Energy
Determining the balance between the right temperature and avoiding high heating bills is not easy during winter, especially if you have an old, outdated thermostat.
A damaged thermostat can either read your home as too hot or too cold and can cause your furnace to shut down before your preferred temperature is reached. Or worse, it will keep the system running after it has achieved your preferred warmth.
If the thermostat in your home is ten years old or more, you may want to consider replacing it with a programmable thermostat. These new, high-tech thermostats learn your heating and cooling preferences so that you won’t always be turning up the heat or turning it down. They will automatically adjust the temperature depending on your liking, saving you money in the process.
You may save even more money if you switch to a smart thermostat that allows you to control the temperature in your home from anywhere remotely. Such a device uses WI-Fi technology to manage your indoor climate in the most energy-efficient ways wirelessly.
A Lack of Maintenance Results in Poor Performance
Just like your car, your furnace requires proper maintenance to ensure it does its job as effectively as possible. But if you’re like most homeowners, they don’t think much about their furnaces until they are troubled by them. The thing is, even if you have the most energy-efficient furnace packed with the most features, it will still be not as efficient as a well-maintained unit.
Furnaces, especially gas-powered units, involve different processes to produce heat, including combustion. As such, they need the right amount of air to effortlessly circulate heated air throughout your home. When parts like the filter and the ducts are clogged, the furnace is essentially suffocated, thus unable to properly deliver warm air. While you can sure clean or replace the furnace on your own, duct maintenance and thorough cleaning of the entire system require expertise and the right tools. We recommend you call an expert instead.
Ask Marsh Heating and Air Conditioning
To save money on energy this coming winter, be sure to have one of our Shakopee furnace repair and maintenance specialists take care of your heating system.