When the weather outside gets cold, you'll really start using your home's furnace to turn up the heat. Unfortunately, you might be making some common mistakes that are causing your home's heating bill to be higher than it needs to be. Make sure you are not doing these.

Setting The Thermostat High To Heat The Home Quickly

When you come home after a long day of work to a cold house, you'll want to get the place feeling comfortable for the rest of the evening. A common mistake is setting the temperature on the thermostat higher than your desired temperature. The hope is that the furnace produces heat that is hotter and will get the home warm much faster.

This is not true at all. A furnace produces heat at a constant temperature and cycles the heat on and off to maintain the temperature in your home. If you set your thermostat too high, the furnace is just going to work harder than necessary to get the temperature up. The furnace will be constantly running, exceed the desired temperature, and waste energy in the process.

Just set your thermostat to where you want it to be, or use a programmable thermostat to pre-heat your home to avoid this problem completely.

Not Replacing The Filter

Most homeowners don't think about the furnace until it is not working anymore. You might not be changing the filter on the furnace until it is well past the time to change it, simply because you do not see a noticeable difference in day-to-day operation of the appliance.

A filter that is dirty essentially creates a blockage. The furnace needs to run longer to push hot air through the filter and will use more energy. That dirty filter could actually be increasing your heating bills by 25%.

Read your furnace's user manual to find out how often it is recommended to replace the filter and what kind of filter you need. When you replace the filter, set a reminder on your phone to change the filter however many months is recommended. This will help prevent you from forgetting about this easy maintenance item.

Not Getting The Furnace Serviced

Consider purchasing an annual service plan from a local HVAC technician, such as Shakley Mechanical Inc. They will inspect your furnace for you and help fix minor issues before they become big ones. This could include replacing an old belt that helps run the fan or cleaning off the heating coils prior to winter beginning. The furnace will run more efficiently, and you'll use less energy all winter long.

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