The post-Halloween candy feast is over, and, not only might your girth have increased, but the cost of heating your home is about to increase, too. With winter coming on, you’ll want to save on HVAC expenses, especially over the holidays.
Take advantage of these tips to dramatically reduce your heating costs as the temperature plummets. Whether you have a single-family home—or a vacation rental business with thousands of units under management—the following energy-saving strategies will put some extra padding in your billfold while you—or your guests—stay warm and cozy all winter long.
Close Those Chimney Flues
If you’re planning on roasting chestnuts on an open fire this Christmas Eve, don’t forget to seal the chimney flue when you put out the fire. Keeping the chimney open is like forgetting to close a window all the way. It sucks out the warm air and forces in cold air, causing your HVAC system to work overtime. The same goes for dryer vents!
According to the Ask the Chimney Sweep blog, purchasing an automatic chimney damper system could be the way to go, so you and your guests never forget to shut the chimney flue again. Writing for Ask the Chimney Sweep, Clay Lamb suggests that automatic chimney dampers will soon become widespread, given the rapid adoption of other automatic and smart home tools.
As an aside, families should be aware that keeping the chimney open for Santa Claus isn’t necessary. Santa is magical and will find a way inside your home no matter what. Let’s just hope he’s bringing presents and not a stocking full of coal!
Circulate the Warm Air with Ceiling Fans
You might think ceiling fans are for summertime, but they’re just as valuable for circulating heated air throughout the house. Use the switch on the side of the fan, so they pull air upward to the ceiling, and set them on the lowest setting. You won’t feel the breeze, but you’ll feel the warmth as they pull the cold air up and push the warm air down, creating more warmth without your needing to crank up the heat.
This image from Del Mar Fans illustrates how ceiling fans distribute the heat:
Seal Windows and Doors with Caulk, Weather Stripping and Heavy Drapes
Insulation specialists can test the seals around your windows and doors with a thermometer to see if you’re losing heat in these areas, but you can do it yourself by feeling the temperature changes with your hands and body. Homes lose most of their heat from the windows—but this doesn’t have to be the case. Sealing tiny cracks with caulk and weather stripping will shore up the leaks. This guide from Popular Mechanics will show you how to seal up your leaky windows and better insulate your home.
Cover up your windows with heavy drapes or curtains at night—or use thick blankets if you can’t afford drapes. Also, open your drapes when the sun hits the windows to take advantage of nature’s free heating. Following these tips will turn your pad into a cocoon of warmth, and your HVAC system won’t require as much energy for heating.
Invest in a Smart HVAC System
Whether it’s for your family home or commercial rental properties, a smart HVAC system from PointCentral will save you money on heating and cooling costs throughout the year. These systems use the most advanced smart heating and cooling technology available, not only to lower your energy bill, but also to extend the life of your HVAC equipment.
PointCentral’s parent company, Alarm.com, collected and analyzed HVAC data from tens of thousands of apartments and homes to develop this smart HVAC technology.
Here are some of the key benefits you’ll receive by investing in a smart HVAC system from PointCentral:
- Pays for itself and puts money in your pocket: These systems extend the life of your HVAC equipment by notifying you when maintenance is needed before a more expensive problem arises. They help you save money on heating and cooling costs and will quickly pay for themselves, putting extra money in your pocket each month.
- Learns your heating/cooling habits for greater efficiency: The smart thermostats used with PointCentral’s HVAC systems monitor and learn your personal heating/cooling preferences—and automatically adjust themselves to more efficiently keep your home at the temperatures that make you comfortable. You can also program your smart thermostat with heating and cooling maximums, and time the thermostat to automatically reset to base-level heating/cooling levels when you (or your guests) are not at home.
- Provides easy-to-understand HVAC diagnostics: PointCentral’s smart HVAC system provides detailed graphics and diagnostic information to maintenance personal so they can easily repair and extend the life of your HVAC units, and prevent the inconvenience of HVAC service interruptions.
Learn More About Smart HVAC Systems from PointCentral
If you’re serious about saving money on heating expenses this winter, contact the team at PointCentral for information about their smart home and enterprise rental property automation systems—or just ask Santa to set you up with this technology as an early Christmas present! Either way, you’ll be surprised by how dramatically you can reduce your energy and HVAC costs with PointCentral technology.
