Heating and cooling account for nearly 56% of the energy used in a typical U.S. home making it the largest energy expense for most homeowners. A wide variety of technologies are available for heating and cooling your home and they achieve a wide range of efficiencies in converting their energy sources into useful heat or cool air for your home.
When looking for ways to save energy usage in your home be sure to think about not only improving your existing heating and cooling system, but also consider the energy efficiency of the supporting equipment and the possibility of either adding supplementary sources of heating or cooling or simply replacing your system altogether.
Your contractor should be able to give you energy fact sheets for different types, models, and designs to help you compare energy usage.
- Clean warm-air registers and baseboard heaters as needed; make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes.
- Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed.
- Turn off kitchen, bath, and other ventilating fans within 20 minutes after you are done cooking or bathing to retain heated air.
- Install a programmable thermostat that can be adjusted to the temperature according to your schedule.
- ENERGYSTAR labeled products can cut your energy bills by up to 30 percent. Find retailers near you at http://www.energystar.gov when you’re ready to replace your heating and cooling systems – as well as appliances, lighting, windows, office equipment, and home electronics.
- Insulate your hot water heater and hot water pipes to prevent heat loss.
- Insulate heating ducts in unheated areas such as attics and crawlspaces and keep them in good repair to prevent heat loss of up to 60 percent at the registers.
- Heating can account for almost half of the average family's winter energy bill. Make sure your furnace or heat pump receives professional maintenance each year. Look for the ENERGYSTAR label when replacing your system.
