Are you concerned about the high cost of cooling and heating your home? Keeping your home sufficiently comfortable year-round will never be cheap, but you can make it less expensive by ensuring that your HVAC works efficiently. We’ll show you some basic steps you can take to boost the energy efficiency of your HVAC system to ensure you’re not paying more for cooling and heating than you need to.
Schedule Yearly Heating and Cooling Tune-Ups
If you don’t have an HVAC company inspect and maintain your heating and air conditioning every year, you can expect to eventually encounter issues with poor efficiency and decreased performance. HVAC systems are prone to developing a variety of issues over time that limit how efficiently they work. This includes things like a dirty evaporator or condenser coil, dirty furnace burners, a malfunctioning blower, or an AC refrigerant leak.
The easiest way to avoid these issues or overcome them is by scheduling a cooling tune-up in the late spring or early summer and a heating tune-up sometime in the fall. Ideally, you should schedule the tune-up before you need to turn your AC or heating on for the first time just to make sure everything works properly. In addition to improving efficiency, annual maintenance can help you avoid your HVAC needing expensive repairs and potentially extend your system’s lifespan.
Change the HVAC Air Filter
Alongside annual professional maintenance, you need to make sure you’re not neglecting your HVAC system’s air filter. Changing the filter regularly makes a world of difference in how energy efficient your HVAC system is and how effectively it cools and heats your home. The best way to keep your HVAC continually functioning efficiently is to change the air filter at least every two to three months.
We recommend first changing it whenever you switch your air conditioning on or in the fall once you need to start running your heating. From there, it’s a good idea to just check how dirty the filter is once a month so you don’t end up going too long without replacing it. If the filter starts getting dark or its face of it is coated with a layer of dust, hair and other debris, its time to replace it.
Replacement air filters aren’t expensive, and you’ll end up saving money by replacing the filter more often compared to what you’d pay in energy costs by running your HVAC with a dirty filter. You can also save a bit more by using a high-quality washable filter instead of continually buying disposable filters. If you prefer disposable filters, you can save by buying a bulk pack instead of buying them individually. Having extra filters on hand also saves you an extra trip in case you suddenly realize your filter is dirty and needs to be replaced right away.
Program Your Thermostat Properly
Unless someone is always home during the day, there’s really no reason to keep your heating or air conditioning turned up as high as you normally do. Just turning the temperature up or down by 5 to 8 degrees before leaving for work and then back to the normal temperature can keep your heating and air conditioning bills around 5% to 10% lower. The only issue is that when you get back, your house will be hotter or colder than you want. That’s why you should make sure to program your thermostat so that the temperature automatically changes at different times. That way you can save energy while still ensuring that your house is comfortable when you get back from work.
Adjusting the temperature at night before going to bed will allow you to save even more. You normally don’t need to worry about adjusting the temperature at night during the summer since it cools down outside enough that your AC typically won’t need to run. However, it’s definitely a good idea to turn the temperature down during the winter so that your heating doesn’t run excessively while you’re asleep and under the covers. You’ll generally get the biggest benefit if you turn your heating down by around 8 degrees, but even a few degrees will make a difference if you prefer your bedroom warmer at night.
Switch to a Smart Thermostat
While programming your thermostat helps to save energy, you can save even more if you install a smart thermostat in your home. With this device, you also gain the convenience of being able to control your heating and air conditioning from anywhere using an app on your phone or tablet. If you’ll be home earlier than usual, you can use the app to switch back to your normal temperature setting so that your house is fully cool or warm when you arrive. Similarly, if you know you’ll be later than usual, you can set the thermostat so that the temperature doesn’t change until your anticipated arrival time so that your HVAC doesn’t run as much and waste energy.
Choosing an ENERGY STAR smart thermostat will provide the biggest energy savings. Any unit that is ENERGY STAR-certified has to have been tested by a third party to demonstrate that it provides a quantifiable increase in energy efficiency. Most of these units are “learning” thermostats, which means that they use sensors to know when the house is occupied and to gain information about the household’s normal daily routines. This information is then used to allow the thermostat to automatically modify and adapt the temperature settings. When this happens, your HVAC doesn’t run more than it needs to and works as efficiently as possible. The app also has a feature where you can check your daily and monthly energy usage; it also provides recommendations on how to improve energy efficiency.
Make Sure to Insulate Crawl Space and Attic Vents
If your home has a basement, all your air ducts are likely within the conditioned part of your house, that is, the areas that are heated and cooled. In this case, it’s usually not necessary to have your ductwork insulated.
If your home has a crawl space foundation, there’s a good chance that is where at least some of your air ducts are located. In that case, you need to make sure that those ducts are fully insulated. Otherwise, the air moving through them will lose a lot of heat in the winter and gain some heat in the summer. That means your heating and AC won’t work as well and you’ll end up spending more on energy than you need to.
Having air ducts in the attic isn’t all that common in Colorado. Nonetheless, homeowners with any ductwork in the attic should also make sure that those ducts are fully insulated for the same reason. Uninsulated attic ducts are a major issue since attics tend to get extremely hot in the summer.
If you need the help of an experienced HVAC or plumbing company in the Denver metro area, High 5 Plumbing, Heating & Cooling is the one to call. Our certified technicians specialize in HVAC maintenance and can service/repair any make or model of air conditioner, heat pump, furnace or ductless mini-split. We also can help you with indoor air quality. If your heating or air conditioning is nearing the end of its life, we’re also the area’s most trusted choice for a new HVAC installation.
To learn more about how we can help you improve your HVAC energy efficiency, contact us at High 5 Plumbing, Heating & Cooling today.
