Following the advice in our heating tips can help hold down your winter energy expenses while still keeping your family warm. Whether you have a furnace, boiler, or heat pump, you can put these money savers into action and reap savings all season.
Safety First
- An annual chimney inspection and cleaning can prevent a chimney fire.
- Whether for cozy decoration or real heating comfort, your fireplace should always have a sturdy screen to intercept sparks.
- Dispose of fireplace ashes in a metal container
- If you supplement with space heaters, keep flammable objects—paper, bedding, clothes, and furniture—a yard away.
- Turn off space heaters when not in use and consider unplugging them overnight.
- Carbon monoxide detectors should be installed throughout your New Jersey home but positioned at least ten feet away from indoor combustion equipment (wood stove, furnace, boiler).
- An annual HVAC inspection and cleaning will keep equipment not only energy-efficient but safe as well.
Little Choices Add Up
- Dress in layers, adding a sweater when you feel a chill.
- Use ceiling fans to keep warmed air moving.
- Seal and caulk all air leaks to keep the heated air inside.
- Keep furniture and drapes from blocking registers and vents, so air circulates well.
- When the fireplace is not in use, close the fireplace damper to prevent heat from escaping up the flue.
- Turn down the thermostat several degrees at night and when your New Jersey home is empty.
- Replace or clean furnace filters frequently.
- Let the sun in my day gain free, infrared (heat) energy.
- Ask your HVAC technician to reduce supply side airflow into unused or seldom-used rooms (do not attempt to close dampers and registers yourself, as you can upset the balance).
Big Changes
- Energy Star-certified programmable thermostats and zone heating.
- Federal Energy Star-labeled furnaces and boilers can generate additional savings through New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program.
For more great heating tips, contact us at Pipe Works Services