Here’s the goal: make a heating tips article that is actually useful to you.
Because we get asked a lot of questions about heating, and expert answers are often simply going to be more thorough than something you’re going to get from a surface-level article on a news site.
Some of the tips we’ve seen in other articles are actually great! This isn’t to say every other source is wrong or incomplete. No one can include everything, and that includes this article.
But if a site is talking about installing heated floors or suggesting you light candles, they’re either out of touch, or they’re getting affiliate revenue from clicks to product purchases, or both. It’s not that these things don’t have any use (candles are nice, after all), but that they aren’t speaking to the pain points of most Americans who are looking for reasonable and consistent solutions when they’re cold in their homes.
Not everything in this list is free. Not all of it requires a purchase either, though. The goal is to give you a range of heating solutions so that you can find the ones that are best for you. Ready? Good.
Tune-ups and Maintenance
Big stuff first. If you want stuff you can do for free, keep scrolling. That’s here too. But these first few are the things everyone should be doing to ensure heating efficiency.
Avoiding a tune-up isn’t free, though. You’re paying in wear & tear on your system, reduced energy efficiency, and you might be voiding your system’s warranty, many of which are dependent on regular tune-ups from licensed professionals.
The smaller stuff matters too, but your home’s HVAC system is the first line of defense against winter’s cold. Want to make sure you’re prepared? Get a tune-up in the Fall.
Filter Replacement
Even if you don’t get your tune-up yearly for your furnace or heat pump (though you really should be), please replace your filter!
Ideally it’s a thicker media filter that will capture more dirt, dust, even bacteria and virus particles! Filters can trap the flu virus, COVID, and more!
But even the cheaper one-inch filters are better than nothing, and they’re a lot better than your dirty, potentially clogged filter if it’s been over a year since you last replaced it.
How does this contribute to heating? It relates to airflow and system efficiency, both of which can suffer greatly with a dirty filter. You’ll be paying more, risking a system breakdown, and will probably be less comfortable as well, potentially with cold spots in your home where airflow is weakest.
If you live in a home with pets or smokers, filter changes could be recommended as often as 1-3 months, and even higher-quality filters should be getting replaced once or twice a year depending on usage.
Heat Loss in the Home
Heat loss in the home isn’t one thing but can potentially be many different things. But they add up.
What is the quality of your windows? Upgrading them can be a huge improvement, negating energy loss and keeping more heat in your home.
Do you know how old the insulation is in your home? If you don’t, it’s undoubtedly decades, and may have degraded. This again can equal hundreds of dollars in additional heating costs every year, and thousands over enough time.
Other areas are less obvious but can still contribute:
- Are your doors adequately sealed, or do you feel drafts near them?
- Is the plumbing or electrical wiring in the home exposed in ways that allow heat loss?
- Is your ductwork properly sealed, or are there air leaks in your HVAC system throughout the ducts?
Collectively, it can be expensive to upgrade everything we just talked about. Fortunately, few homes need all of them, and some homes don’t need any of them.
How do you know which you need? Some will be obvious, such as single-paned, cracked windows. Others will require a consultation from an expert contractor. At CABS, for example, we don’t just install and maintain HVAC systems. We can assess your entire home for its energy needs and make (no-obligation) recommendations on any of it. It can help as you decide the right path forward for your home.
Open the Curtains During the Day
The sun is the best natural source of heat. Use it. Figure out when light will be shining through the windows and throw open those curtains and blinds!
If this feels a bit more minor than the items above, that’s because it is. Shoring up sources of heat loss and maintaining your HVAC system will play a bigger role in home heating than opening some curtains, but each is a strategy designed to assist you as you figure out the right mix of heating strategies.
Close the Curtains at Night
Conversely, if the sun isn’t shining in a window, heat is escaping regardless of how thick the windows are. That’s when you should be closing your curtains and trapping heat inside.
Having both window blinds and curtains also helps, as does having thick, double-layered blackout curtains.
Blackout curtains can have other benefits as well, such as noise reduction and sleep assistance by keeping your bedroom dark. While these benefits will vary based on your circumstances, they’ll reduce heat loss regardless of your situation.
Check Your Dampers
Here’s something that can be situationally useful but can also get people in a lot of trouble.
See, your ductwork probably has dampers on them, and you have the ability to manually toggle them so that airflow is cut off to one or more areas of the home.
This can be useful when, for example, you’re having company over and won’t be using the second floor of the home. Cutting off airflow can help to keep the main portion of the home more comfortable.
However, for general use, your HVAC system is designed to properly heat and cool your entire home, and cutting off airflow can create certain inefficiencies that harm the system over time.
More frequently, people just forget to toggle the dampers back, and so you end up with a room or area of the home that’s extremely cold.
Use a Programmable Thermostat
It’s advisable to sleep in a cool room, and so when you’re asleep, your clothing and bedding should be doing a lot of the work of keeping you warm. Additionally, you’re not using the rest of your home during this time, so there’s not much use in heating rooms that aren’t being used.
It’s important to keep the heat on during the coldest of freezing temperature, because this can defend against freezing water pipes. However, that doesn’t mean it needs to be the same temperature at all times.
Figure out your winter schedule and create a heating plan around it. If you’re gone during the day for work, make sure the system is off or isn’t heating the home too often. Same for the nighttime hours.
You can do this manually, but the easiest way is to utilize a programmable thermostat. That way, you only have to adjust it for exceptions to your usual routine, and don’t have to worry about it the rest of the time.
Utilize Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans can be useful for cooling in the summer, and reversing them in the winter can have the opposite effect.
As we know, warm air rises, which means that the warmest air in any given room is pressed against the ceiling. Ceiling fans can circulate this air to provide a more even warmth in the room and displace the warmest air at the top.
Direct air blowing on you may still feel cold, so it may also be worth doing this in rooms that aren’t actively in use. The air is still circulating throughout your entire home, but you don’t have to worry about direct drafts on your skin.
Humidity Control
This is one too few people think about in regard to heat. Increasing the humidity in your home when it’s cold will increase your comfort and warmth significantly.
Humidity equals warmth to our bodies. Three degrees of relative humidity feels like roughly one degree of temperature increase to us.
That’s why people talk about “dry heat” being easier to handle sometimes in the summer.
The best, although most expensive, option is a whole-home humidifier. These can be installed with an HVAC system and cover the entire home.
Smaller versions of this – individual humidifiers designed perhaps for a bedroom or small space – can be useful but won’t provide full benefits across your home.
Increasing humidity in the winter can reduce the lifespan of viruses and bacteria, reduce coughs and itchy skin, and prevent warping in floorboards. It’s not just about heat. But it’s helpful there too.
HVAC Upgrades
If you want to skip the small and mid-level stuff, here’s the big one. A new heat pump or furnace system will be a massive upgrade for homes with old, inefficient and ineffective heating systems.
Obviously this is among the more expensive options on the list as well (except perhaps for new windows). There’s no getting around it though. Once your HVAC system is old enough, it’s costing you money in the long-run.
New systems are invariably going to be an upgrade, but not all HVAC equipment is created equal. Single-stage heating equipment isn’t going to keep you as comfortable as two-stage equipment, which in turn isn’t as sophisticated as variable-speed (or modulating) furnaces and heat pumps.
Again, any of them are better than old, inefficient equipment. But if you have a multi-story home that’s difficult to heat in even the best of circumstances, more sophisticated equipment is going to keep you warmer more consistently.
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Safety Tips for Home Heating
Just as important as staying warm is staying safe when you’re warming up. Here are some considerations for you as we enter the winter season:
Fireplace Safety
Fireplaces are unfortunately one of the more common reasons for home fires. Fireplace safety measures can prevent many of these.
The U.S. Fire Administration recommends several steps, including having your chimney flue inspected yearly by a professional before use, not leaving fires unattended, putting out fires before leaving, not burning paper, and placing ashes a safe distance away from the home.
Space Heater and Furnace Safety
Your furnace shouldn’t generally be a hazard, but can be if you aren’t careful.
Particularly if you have a gas system, regular inspections are crucial to ensure that you aren’t leaking poisonous gas into the air in your home. This is another reason tune-ups are so important.
Keeping anything away from your furnace unit is also a best practice, since flammable materials near your furnace can be a hazard.
The same is true for space heaters, which should not be left unattended and also shouldn’t run near anything that’s flammable.
Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detectors
Regularly testing your CO detectors and smoke detectors can literally save your life and the lives of your loved ones. There isn’t much else to dig into here; if you’re unsure if they’re operational, contact either the manufacturer,
Emergency Preparedness
Having a plan of action in a fire emergency is another potentially life-saving precautionary step.
This can include a plan of action for if you smell gas in your home, which can lead to a fire or other fatal consequences.
Staying Warm in the Winter
By now you realize that there isn’t just one strategy for staying warm, but many. If an extra layer of clothing and a blanket aren’t cutting it, though, it’s time to look into more long-term solutions.
CABS Heating and Air Conditioning does exactly this. Not just traditional HVAC. Air quality assessments, sealing, and a complete audit of what you should be considering for home upgrades that will help to keep you comfortable.
When you’re ready to talk, we’ll be excited to assist you!
