Energy costs are going up – and inflation isn’t the only reason why. Government action and increasing demand for natural resources also contribute to the ever-increasing figures on your energy bills.
Pointing fingers at the reasons for rising energy costs is all well and good, though it’s not as if you have any control over them. Ultimately, the only practical way to save money is by lowering your energy consumption.
This is not to say that you should be uncomfortable. PrairieSons would never recommend that. We’re just here to say that in addition to adopting a few lifestyle changes, you can reduce your energy usage – without sacrificing your quality of life – by upgrading your HVAC system.
Several upgrades exist to make your HVAC system more energy efficient. In addition to saving you money, they can reduce stress on your system that may lead to a poorly timed furnace breakdown, as well as reduce your other needs for emergency furnace services. Let’s take a look at a few of your options!
Smart Thermostat
A smart thermostat gives you total control over your home’s temperature just like a traditional one would. You can adjust it anytime on your phone, so you can turn the heat down even if you realized that you forgot to by the time you already left the house.
If you let a smart thermostat put its smartness to work, you can realize even greater energy savings. A smart thermostat can actually predict when you will leave or arrive home and adjust the temperature accordingly. It can also anticipate what the day’s weather will bring and compensate in response.
Duct Sealing
If you hear whistling coming out of your ducts, see more dust in your home than makes sense, or notice that hot and cold air are being fed in to same room simultaneously, then you probably already have leaky ducts: one of the leading contributors to HVAC inefficiency
The more hot and cold air that escape from your ducts, the more you’ll have to pay to heat and cool your attic and the insides of your walls. That’s why sealing your ducts with mastic, a product like Aeroseal, or plain old-fashioned duct tape can make a significant impact on your energy bills!
Ceiling Fans
They may seem like a low-tech solution (because they are), but ceiling fans can dramatically reduce the amount of work your HVAC has to do in order to keep you comfortable. So long as its blades are set to rotate in the correct direction (clockwise in winter, counterclockwise in summer), a ceiling fan can keep you noticeably more comfortable. According to the DOE, ceiling fans let you raise the temperature by 4 °F during the summer without impacting your comfort. That’s all the reason you need to install ceiling fans if you haven’t already got them.
New Furnace
It’s not so much an upgrade as it is a replacement, but a new furnace can make a big impact on your heating bill. In general, the higher a furnace’s energy efficiency, the higher its price tag. But a furnace that uses less energy to produce the same results will save you real money over the course of its entire lifespan. If its AFUE is high enough, a new furnace can reduce heating costs by as much as 25%.
New Air Conditioner
The same logic applies to air conditioners. If you purchase a new model with a significantly higher SEER rating, you can easily shave 20 to 40% percent off your electricity bill during the summer months. A high-efficiency air conditioner can also keep you more comfortable by keeping your home’s relative humidity at the right level, as well as producing less noise.
PrairieSons’ commitment to delivering reliable heating solutions throughout the greater Sioux Falls area includes providing HVAC upgrades. If you’d like to talk about which upgrades can help save you money in the long run – or need prompt heating repairs, or any of our other winter heating services – then we welcome you to contact us today!