5 Tips to Heat Your Home Efficiently

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Trane Residential. All opinions are 100% mine. Read these 5 tips on how to heat your home in the Fall and Winter months while balancing both comfort and efficiency.

As you know we live in an old home built in 1865. Given the age of this house energy efficiency is one of the first things we tackled when we purchased it. As we begin to approach the temperature drops and move into the Fall I wanted to share a few seasonal maintenance tips. Let’s discuss how to heat your home efficiently and keep it balanced for the cooler months. This helps keep everyone in your home comfortable, while saving money on your energy bills.

Replace an Old Furnace

I can’t stress enough the importance of your actual furnace! We recently had ours replaced and we’re already reaping the benefits of an updated unit. I know the cost can seem scary, but you will save money monthly and prevent any emergency situations with your heater. If you’re looking to replace your furnace, I suggest checking out the Trane S9V2 Gas Furnace. Not only is this furnace known for its quiet operation and efficiency, but I know we can trust the system to keep our family comfortable on even the coldest days to come. However, make sure to reach out to your Comfort Specialist for more information on the right product for your home!

Check Ducts, Vents and Filters for Efficient Heating

As mentioned earlier, our house is quite old. Which means we have areas of our home where the heat is stronger in some rooms than others, thus giving an unbalanced temperature throughout our home. The first thing to do to keep this at bay is to make sure your furnace ducts are properly sealed, the vents around your home are open and unobstructed, and most importantly, your filter is changed regularly. Any of these potential problems can cause your system to work harder than it should, which could drive up your operating costs. to When it comes to your filter, set recurring alarms on your phone to replace it every 30-90 days depending upon your household. Have pets? Go 30 days and change it out with one like the Trane Comfort Performance Filter that can capture pet dander as well as household dust, dust mites, mold spores and pollen. I also suggest setting up a schedule to make sure your HVAC unit is being serviced regularly by a professional, once in the spring and once in fall, to avoid repairs or replacements down the road.

Utilize Your Thermostat

When keeping your home warm for Fall and Winter, don’t forget to set your thermostat accordingly. A smart thermostat helps you to keep your home running in the most efficient way by letting you set schedules to turn up the heat when you need it the most and turn it down, say overnight, when you can conserve on energy use… When trying to address those colder areas of your home, don’t just turn up the temperature. You can create climate zones and direct the heat where it’s needed by partially closing vents in areas that are too warm, which will help push the air farther to those that aren’t warm enough.. By following the ducts to see which rooms are being heated by the same duct work, you can better utilize those vents to create the temperature you want in your home. In the end of the day, having an older home doesn’t mean having to put up with hot and cold spots around the house and inconsistent airflow!

Run Your Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans aren’t only for keeping you cool. In fact, if you flip the switch on the fan to turn the direction of the blades clockwise when outside temperatures begin to drop, it helps push the warm air to where you want it most. That change will pull the cooler air up and push down the warmer air has risen to near the ceiling. You only need to run your ceiling fan on its lowest speed with this simple change to take full advantage of the warm air in your home while keeping your thermostat a little lower.

Address Your Windows

Windows play a HUGE part in your homes efficiency. If you have older windows make sure you are sealing up any gaps to prevent the warm air from escaping. You can also utilize curtains to help maintain the temperature of your home. Open the curtains that allow the sun to shine in, and close curtains when the sun isn’t hitting those windows. Opening them allows the sun to shine in and keep your home warmer and closing them helps keep any air from escaping, and therefore insulating the window.

As we get closer and closer to the cooler months ahead, I hope these tips keep your house warm, comfortable, and efficient. Please reach out to your local Trane Comfort Specialist for any questions you might have to improve the quality of the air in your home!