It is not necessary to spend a lot of money or complete extensive modifications to increase the energy efficiency of your house. You can improve your home’s comfort while saving money with simple behavioral changes and do-it-yourself projects.
5 heating hacks to make your home more energy efficient are:
- Take Care of Your Furnace
- Wrap Your Water Heater
- Apply Heating-vent Tape to Ductwork
- Test the Airtight Seals on Doors and Windows
- Use Automated Devices
Let’s learn about simple hacks to ensure your house is as energy efficient as possible without investing much money.
1. Take Care of Your Furnace
The least energy-intensive furnaces are the new high-efficiency ones, although older units may still be made more effective. The first step is annual professional servicing since a well-maintained furnace can save you more than you might think. Cleaning the areas you can’t see or will be necessary and ensuring it isn’t working any harder than it needs to.
For your part, make sure air flows readily into the unit and extend the life of your furnace by changing filters every three months more if you’ve just had renovations or have pets.
2. Wrap Your Water Heater
Because water is only heated if needed, on-demand water heaters are frequently the most economical option. To prevent heat loss from electrical hot water tanks, start covering them with an insulating blanket.
3. Apply Heating-vent Tape to Ductwork
Ductwork joints can allow hot air to escape. That means you’re not getting heat where you want it while paying to heat somewhere you don’t like, like an unfinished basement (upper floor rooms). All visible seams can be sealed using heating-vent tape.
4. Test the Airtight Seals on Doors and Windows
You waste energy cooling and heating your house without an airtight seal. By circling window and door frames with a lighted incense stick or candle, you may check for drafts. You have a breeze if it flickers. Add or replace weather-stripping, a door sweep, and caulk the edges of frames. Applying outside window film will improve efficiency even more during the winter months.
5. Use Automated Devices
With a smart thermostat, your cooling and heating expenses might be cut by up to 15%. It operates by recognizing your routines and automatically altering the temperature.
For instance, if you typically lower the temperature before bed at 10 p.m., a programmable thermostat will begin doing so automatically. Whether at home or not, you can operate a smart thermostat via an app. So even if your plan changes at the last minute, you can still keep an eye on your cooling and heating expenses.
Lighting automation can also save you cash. Install motion sensors and dimmer switches for the lights to turn off when you leave the room.
Final Thoughts
You can do plenty of little things around your house to save energy you might not be aware of. After trying the hacks above, you might want to do an energy audit of your house. A professional will be a better job, but you can always try to find more ways to make your home energy efficient.