Spending too much on energy bills? Our heating service experts want to help by offering some energy and money saving tips! Here are some ways you can improve your Austin home’s heating this winter:
5 Ways to Keep Your Austin House Warmer This Winter
1. Install a programmable thermostat.
How old if your thermostat? Instead of having to manually fiddle with the temperature every time you leave the house or every time you come back home, an advanced thermostat can automatically schedule heating changes to save money and improve your comfort. There are the recommended temperatures for your home:
- For When You Wake Up = 68 degrees
- While You’re at Work = 60 degrees
- For When You Get Home = 68 degrees
- Overnight = 60 degrees
Of course, some of those temperatures seem chilly, so adjust these suggestion accordingly as to what’s comfortable for you.
2. Keep Curtains Open During the Day and Closed Overnight.
Once the sun is up, you want to capture as much of that free heat as possible. Before you leave the house for the day, open up those curtains and let the light shine in.
Once the sun goes down, keep all that heat from leaving through the windows by closing the drapes. If you’re in a particularly cold home or geographic area, consider getting insulated curtains for winter use. They’ll prevent some of the warmth in your home from escaping. You can even put up temporary curtains (or even sheets, rugs, etc.) over doors to the outside, even if just at night while you’re sleeping.
4. Mind your wood-burning fireplaces.
Fireplaces are undoubtedly romantic and very nice to sit by in the coldest of the winter months — but they can also unfortunately be very inefficient. Wood-burning fireplaces tend to suck hot air from the room up the chimney (along with the smoke) leaving other rooms in your home cold despite the fact that you feel warm. To prevent this, invest in glass casing for your fireplace.
5. Take a look at your ceiling fans.
If you have ceiling fans in your home, they may actually be able to help you get through the coldest months of the year. See, hot air rises, but a ceiling fan spinning clockwise can push that warm air back down into the room. In fact, many fans have a “winter” setting, which reverses the fan precisely for this purpose. Try it out on a low speed, and see if it warms the room.
Need furnace repair, furnace replacement, or any sort of heating system tune-up? For the best heating service in Austin, call Radiant Plumbing today!
