3 Ways to Heat Your Home More Efficiently

Heating your house or home efficiently is one of the most important things you can do to lower your energy usage over time. No matter if you have a furnace, boiler system, or central air, there are several things you can do to heat your home more efficiently.

Call an HVAC Technician for Maintenance

One of the easiest ways to increase the efficiency of your heating system is to call an HVAC technician to perform some routine maintenance on the unit. They can identify degrading parts, clogged filters or pipes, damaged insulation, and other factors that affect the ability of your furnace or other implements to heat your home. They can also identify repairs that need to be done. Some maintenance can be done yourself, such as replacing the filters to increase the airflow (which means less energy use) but other aspects, such as furnace repair, can be dangerous and should be done by a professional.

Find a High AFUE Rating For Your Equipment

If you are looking to replace or install a new part of an HVAC system, such as a new furnace, then you will want to find a piece of equipment that has a high AFUE rating. AFUE, which stands for annual fuel utilization efficiency, is a measure of what percentage of energy used by a heating system is used to heat your home and conversely, what is lost. For example, if you are in the market for a replacement boiler, then a boiler with an AFUE rating of 90 will have 90% of the energy it uses go straight towards heating your home, and 10% is lost. You can work with a contractor to find units with the highest AFUE rating possible for your home.

Consider Installing a Heat Pump

Finally, if you are willing to put in the time and effort needed for this sort of heating system, then you should consider installing a heat pump. Heat pumps work by using the heat present in the ground to perpetually boil and liquidize coolant, which then moves throughout your home in pipes. This moves the heat in the ground into your house or home. This option requires more money upfront than other units, as well as specialized contractors. Given the right geographic area and proper insulation, however, heat pumps can be one of the best sources of household heating.

There are many ways to increase the efficiency of your home's heating system. Doing regular maintenance and repair is probably the easiest while installing high AFUE rated heating units or even a heat pump are less so. Given proper installation, heat pumps can be one of the best sources of household heating.

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