The cold weather is coming back to Alberta, and you’ll be surprised to hear about the ways you can save money by stressing energy efficiency at home. Try some of the following and you could see significant energy and money savings this winter.
- If you haven’t already done so, schedule a maintenance tuneup for your heating system. This is especially important if you use a combustion furnace, boiler or stove. Potentially deadly carbon monoxide and other combustion gases can seep into living spaces when a furnace or other combustion device is malfunctioning or poorly vented. A tune up will improve energy efficiency and performance, too.
- Install a programmable thermostat in your home and learn how to program it for maximum energy savings. There’s no reason to fully heat an empty house, and scheduled heating setbacks are an easy way to avoid that mistake. Most people program setbacks during the day while they’re working or at school, and also overnight when they’re sleeping.
- Check ductwork for bad connections and other types of leakage. Leaky ducts can allow substantial energy waste as heated air and energy leaks into unconditioned areas such as crawl spaces, attics and wall voids. Wrap insulation around ducts running through these areas, too. Mastic sealant, metal-backed tape and special metal screws all can be used to seal ductwork.
- Use ceiling fans in the winter to redistribute warm air that collects near the ceiling. Do this by flipping the switch on the fan housing so the fan blades rotate clockwise. Just don’t forget to change the blade rotation back to counterclockwise next spring.
- Inspect the furnace filter every month and change it when it looks clogged. This is a very inexpensive way to improve furnace efficiency, while protecting system parts and improving indoor air quality.
- On sunny afternoons, open curtains and shades on the sunny side of the house to take advantage of solar heating. Close them before the sun sets.
For more tips on upgrading energy efficiency this winter in your Calgary home, please contact us at Arpi’s Industries.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Calgary, Alberta about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about energy savings and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide.
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Feng Yu/Shutterstock”
