This winter has been brutal. Day after day of subzero-like temperatures have us all cranking our heat up to combat the chill. Hopefully you had an annual furnace tune-up at the beginning of the season to make sure your furnace is running at its best. If you haven’t, it’s not too late to have a professional from Sears Heating and Cooling come out to give your furnace a check-up. This is especially helpful at the start of the season, but we still have plenty of cold weather left to deal with, even heading into Spring. Other than changing the filter once a month, there are some tips and tricks to keeping your furnace in tip top shape and your home much warmer year-round.
Lower Your Thermostat Setting
By lowering it setting just a few degrees, your thermostat won’t have to work as hard to keep your home warm when it’s extremely cold outside. At night it’s also good to have it set at a lower temperature, so it’s not coming on quite as much. You can easily add extra blankets to your family’s beds and additional layers of clothing to keep yourself warmer without having the heat set so high. Plus, as an added bonus for every degree lower you set the thermostat, you’ll save up to 5 percent on heating costs.
Close Unused Vents
You may have rooms in your house that you don’t use as much––or even at all. Close those vents off so that more warm air gets pushed into the spaces that you actually use. Close the doors on spare rooms that aren’t in use as well; it will keep common areas and hallways nice and toasty.
Insulate Windows
Once the heat is coming into your home, you don’t want it to escape through drafty old windows, do you? This is an easy fix and many hardware stores sell kits that will allow you to put a plastic film over your windows, so that heat doesn’t leak out as much.
Door Socks Are Your Friend
Drafty doors can also be a problem with heat escaping under gaps in the frames. Cover up that gap with a long door sock. You can buy these usually at hardware stores or at all purpose stores like Target. If you are really crafty you can even make your own out of real old socks that you don’t use anymore. DIY tutorials are available on various websites like Pinterest.
Rearrange Your Rooms
This is also an easy fix. If you have furniture in your living room that sits close to an outer facing wall or window, change it up! Move your furniture around even temporarily until Spring so that you aren’t sitting in a drafty or cold area all the time.
