With the holiday season upon us, it’s easy to want to tighten up our wallets and use our budgets for more enjoyable endeavors than our heating systems, whether it’s for gifts or fall and winter excursions.
As a result, you might try to use your heating system as little as possible and just “deal with it” as temperatures cool, in order to save money. After all, our winters aren’t bitterly cold right? It’s not like you really need to be as comfortable as possible.
Well, all we have to say to that is… you deserve comfort! And our team can help you stay as comfortable as possible, as affordably as possible! This starts with routine maintenance. If you haven’t scheduled your fall maintenance tune-up yet, now is the time!
Maintenance isn’t the only way you can ensure efficient and affordable use of your heater though. Read on as we uncover some relatively easy tips for you to follow so you can stay comfy without sacrificing too much of your wallet.
Schedule Maintenance!
We know we just mentioned this one, but it’s worth repeating. Maintenance is the leading way to ensure the efficiency of your heating system. During maintenance, we thoroughly inspect, clean, and adjust components that need it. This helps your heater work at its best. Read: efficiently!
During maintenance, we’ll check for components that are succumbing to wear and tear. This might mean that you have motor bearings that are losing lubrication, for example. Worn-down motor bearings not only make an irritating sound, they create friction on the motor and your motor cannot work as effectively, leading to your system overheating.
Not only does this mean you risk a sudden breakdown, but it may be harder for your heater to do its job, and it could run longer to try to compensate-therefore operating inefficiently.
This is just one example out of many of how maintenance contributes to better efficiency. Every year you go without maintenance, your heater loses about 5% of its efficiency rating, but with annual maintenance, you can help it retain 95% of its original efficiency.
Keep the Thermostat Setting Reasonable
It can be really hard to resist the urge to turn up the temperature to try to heat your home “faster” when you’re feeling cold. But we urge you to resist that urge. The thing is, all that accomplishes is making your heater run longer–it does not heat the room or the home up any faster. Therefore, you’re not using the heating system efficiently and not really achieving long-term comfort.
It’s better to keep your heater on and set to 68°F during our chillier months than to turn the thermostat up as high as possible to achieve comfort. You’ll find that you’re using less electricity and therefore paying less on your utility bills this way.
If, however, your thermostat setting is reasonable but your heater just doesn’t seem to be doing its job as effectively as it used to, it may be time to give our team a call for professional repairs.
For professional maintenance and heating repair in Pomona, CA, you needn’t look any further than Greenleaf Heating & Cooling. Contact us today!