Have You Made These Common Heating Mistakes?
Tread Carefully as You Try to Reduce Heating Costs
When we’re in the middle of a cold Wisconsin winter, most people try their best to reduce heating expenses in a variety of ways. But it can be easy to make mistakes, and just as easy to put your family’s safety at risk if you make the wrong choices. With that in mind, here are common heating mistakes you may have made in the past and that you should avoid in the future.
Closing Heating Vents
For people who rely on furnaces to stay warm, a common mistake is closing the heating vents in seldom-used rooms. The belief is that this will conserve heat and save money, but this is not a good idea.
This is because closing vents on your home will disrupt normal air flow, causing an imbalance that will just make your furnace work harder. Closing vents can also raise the risk of frozen pipes, especially in rooms that tend to be on the cold side anyway.
It’s always better to keep the temperature at a comfortable level throughout your home and program it to energy-saving settings when the house is empty, or everyone is asleep.
Ignoring Energy Efficient Thermostat Settings
You can easily save energy in the winter by setting the thermostat to 68°F while you’re awake and setting it about 8°F lower while you’re asleep or away from home. If you have a programmable thermostat, this can easily be done.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the lower the interior temperature, the slower the heat loss. So, the longer your house stays at the lower temperature, the more energy you save, because your house has lost less energy than it would have at the higher temperature.
The same concept applies to raising your thermostat setting in the summer—a higher temperature inside your home will slow heat gain into your house, saving you money on air conditioning costs.
The U.S. Energy Department estimates that you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply adjusting your thermostat 7°–10°F for eight hours a day from its normal setting.
When it comes to temperature settings, however, some people go too far. Avoid the mistake of setting your thermostat below 60° when it’s cold outside.
Moving your setting too low is another way to raise your risk of frozen pipes. Water pipes near outside walls or in unheated spaces are especially prone to freeze-ups. The risk increases if cracks in your foundation allow cold air to enter.
Do-It-Yourself Repairs
Over the years, there have been costly and even dangerous consequences when someone starts tinkering with a complicated heating system.
Heating system repairs present unique challenges that often require extensive training and sophisticated diagnostic equipment to assess and fix.
The bottom line: if you need a heating system repair, don’t try to do it yourself. Arrange for professional service instead. If your heating oil company doesn’t perform repairs, they can probably refer you to a trustworthy heating oil service contractor who does.
Certified heating oil technicians have the training, experience, and tools to find and fix heating problems quickly, correctly and safely.
Hanging on to an Old, Inefficient Heating System
If your old heating oil system has not been providing enough warmth or it breaks down often, explore the benefits of upgrading to new heating oil equipment.
Today’s high-efficiency heating oil systems provide heat more efficiently than units made a generation ago. Higher efficiency means more energy savings, which of course translates into lower heating costs.
To decide how much power your home’s heating system needs, an experienced heating oil service provider will do tests to figure out how much heat your home loses in the winter.
Once a proper-sized system is selected, your heating oil service contractor will install it the right way. This requires skilled technicians with specialized training. A furnace is not like a refrigerator that gets wheeled into the kitchen and plugged in. A heating system installation takes much more work!
Bottom line: installing a new heating system will increase energy efficiency and save you money, assuming the furnace is sized and installed correctly.
If you’re ready to explore new heating oil system options for your Wisconsin home, your heating oil service company will be happy to help. Please remember to ask about current rebate opportunities in Wisconsin for new heating oil equipment.