How to Increase the Efficiency of Your Heating System

Go Green and Save Green

Increasing the efficiency of your heating system not only lowers your carbon footprint, it also helps to save you money on your energy bills. Whether you are looking to save money or save the world (maybe both), implementing recommended improvements in your home is sure to help. The best way to start improving your home's energy efficiency is to have a Home Energy Audit performed by a certified professional.

A Home Energy Audit will provide you with information about what areas of the home would benefit most from improvement and identify any hazards caused by your HVAC system. Even if your home heating system is rated at the top of the efficiency scale, if your home is leaking energy it cannot work properly and will waste your energy dollars. Your HVAC or Home Energy Audit contractor is a wonderful source of home energy information-- consult with these professionals before making changes to your Denver heating and air systems.

Windows and Heat Efficiency
The best way to keep your home comfortable is to make sure that your heating system is running in as a closed circuit system. The envelope of your home is never perfectly sealed however, it is possible to gain efficiency using windows that move some of the heat into and out of your home. Use these tips as a guide to gaining more efficiency with your HVAC system.

During sunny winter days it is important to let sunlight come through your windows so that it will warm the rooms of your house without using any costly energy. Windows located on the South side of your home are the best for heating your home. Designing your home by putting larger windows on the South side of the house will decrease the amount of energy used by your heating system. Most areas outside of my town, Denver, have many more cloudy days than sunny days (that's right, Denver has more sunny days than Florida!). Heating and air conditioning Denver homes is sometimes a challenge due to the ever changing weather. During cloudy winter days it is important to close the curtains and shades of windows to keep the warmth provided by your heating system in the house. Your comfort level depends on having good thick curtains to help insulate your house. Your furnace or heating system will be more efficient, effective and last longer if your home's window coverings are used properly.

Effectively using the power of the sun to help lessen the wear on your heating system is called utilizing passive energy. If you are currently building a new home, or re-modeling an existing structure, remember to ask your builder how to best utilize passive solar energy to help elevate the pain of home heating bills.

How to Best Use a Fireplace
Fire places are a romantic and inexpensive way to heat your home however, they are not very efficient. Making a wood burning fireplace more efficient will not only keep your home at a more comfortable and stable temperature, it will help keep energy from leaking out of your house.

Fireplace grates are a good investment for people using a fireplace to heat their home. The fireplace grate is made up of C-shaped metal tubes that point into the center of a room. Cold air is drawn from the room into the ends of the tubes and then warmed and returned to the room from the higher ends of the tubes. Using a fireplace grate helps properly circulate the air in the room and makes your heating system more effective. Dampers are another way to increase the efficiency of your fireplace. Leaving a damper open is comparable to leaving a large window open. The damper can leak 5-20 percent of your total heat energy cost right up the fireplace. Always close the damper when the fireplace is not in use. It is also important to fill and seal any cracks or openings around the fireplace with caulk that is approved for use around heated surfaces.

Big, roaring fires always seem like a great idea however, at times they can seem to make your living room colder instead of heating it like it should. Fireplaces can actually pull heat from the room they are being employed to heat. A really large fire can pull as much as $22,000 cubic feet of air out of the house through the chimney. To make up for this enormous heat loss your heating and HVAC system is put to the test, straining one of the most important appliances of your house- the furnace. Denver HVAC services don't typically include checking your fireplaces efficiency however, they will happily do so when asked. You can minimize this loss of heat energy by closing the doors to the room where the fireplace is located and opening a window no more than an inch and a quarter. With these steps taken, the fire will get the fresh air it needs without pulling air from other rooms of the home.

Restore Deteriorated Insulation
Insulation is the best way to gain efficiency in your home. HVAC systems are only as effective as the homes they are installed in and if your home is poorly insulated it even a 94% efficient heating system will not keep the home comfortable. Damaged insulation will leak energy from the home unnecessarily taxing your HVAC system and causing premature aging of the machine. Have your contractor measure the insulation in your walls, ceiling and floors using a infrared camera so you don't have to tear down finished walls to find the insulation problems.