It’s expected to be dreadfully cold outside during the winter months, but it can be quite uncomfortable and even maddening when that arctic breeze finds its way inside of your home. Unfortunately, many people find themselves spending exorbitant amounts of money on their energy bills during the winter, only to still have a cold home. In this article, we will discuss how heat may be escaping your home as well as ways to ensure that you efficiently and affordably keep your home warm this winter.
How Heat Can Easily Escape From Your Home
You have one furnace, multiple vents and a potentially unlimited number of ways that heat can escape from your house. Below, we have outlined some of the usual suspects that contribute to heat loss.
- Drafts: Drafts typically come through your windows or doors.
- Poor insulation: Most heat is lost to poorly insulated walls, roofs and windows.
- Chimneys and fireplaces: If not appropriately covered when not in use, they will contribute to heat loss.
Regularly checking these problem areas will help to keep your heating cost low and your home warm. In addition to heat escaping from your home, many times your HVAC system plays a huge role in maintaining a consistently warm temperature throughout your house.
Steps to Combat a Cold Home
After you have inspected the aforementioned problem areas and assessed their culpability in keeping your home cold, you will be ready to take steps to fix the issues and begin properly winterizing your home. Those steps include the following:
- Sealing Your Windows and Doors: Re-caulking around your windows and doors can dramatically decrease the number of winter drafts that enter your home. In addition, using a draft snake can keep those door drafts at bay.
- Insulation: A lot of your home’s heat can escape through your roof and walls. Ensure that you properly insulate these areas. If you are not skilled in this area, contact a professional to help out. You can also purchase insulated curtains to add an additional layer to your windows.
- Close Unused Vents: If you have rooms in your home that are not used often, close the vents and the doors. This will help to lower your heating costs as well as keep your common areas warmer.
Maintaining Your Heating System
Maintaining an efficient furnace will not only be great for your finances, but it will also help you to have a much more comfortable winter inside your home. The first step you should take is to regularly replace your furnace filter. You can always get great furnace filters from www.myfilterking.com.
In addition, ensure that you schedule yearly maintenance for your furnace. This will ensure that it is working efficiently and it will also decrease the possibility of your furnace breaking down during the winter. It is best to have the maintenance scheduled during late summer or early fall. After all, there is nothing worse than a broken furnace during the long and cold winter months.