David Carter is a home renovation expert located in Philadelphia, Mississippi. At Handy Man Repairs, Inc., where he is the owner and CEO, Carter handles all types of plumbing, electrical, and carpentry repairs. He has a degree in engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA from Georgia College. Here, he tells us the best way to keep homes heated without wasting energy.
When a client comes to me asking how he can bring down energy costs this winter season, always make sure that he done a few things first. These are really the five most important aspects when it comes to saving money and helping your home run as efficiently as possible.
Home Energy Inspections
Any homeowner concerned about wasting energy should take the time to have a full home energy inspection done on his house. After calling your local utility company to find out the average energy use for a home of your size, an inspector will come in and look at your furnace, your door seals, your insulation, and your windows. And depending on what the inspector finds, he will most likely be able to give you a number of tips and ideas for saving money on fuel costs based on your own issues and needs specifically.
Furnace Inspections
One thing an inspector will do during a home energy inspection is look at the homeowner’s furnace. Is it in good repair? Is it running efficiently? Especially when you are looking at older furnaces, it is important to make sure the burner is set where it is supposed to be and that carbon monoxide levels are not too high.
Checking Insulation
Without the proper amounts of insulation, your home could be wasting a lot of energy. It is important to have someone come out to your house and check to make sure your insulation is up to code on a semi-regular basis. This can easily be done as part of a full-home energy inspection.
Programmable Thermostats
No matter what issues are going on in your home, in terms of energy use, it is almost always cost-effective to install a programmable thermostat. Doing this is going to help you save on energy bills. But, I should note, that if the other areas of the home are not running efficiently, then you still will not be saving as much money on heating bills as your could be.
Bringing the Thermostat Down
In general, a lot of people tend to set their thermostats way too high. Bringing down the thermostat by just a couple degrees could really help you save a bundle on heating costs this winter.
By taking the time and ensuring that all of these aspects of your home have been taken care of, you could really save a bundle on energy costs. While each one of the above tips is helpful on its own, it is really important to optimize these ideas and get them all done if you are really looking to save fuel and energy costs over the winter season.
