It’s November already, and in many parts of the country, temperatures are dropping and warm coats are emerging from closets. This time of year is about taking pleasure in foliage and football, cozy sweaters and hot cocoa. It’s also the beginning of heating season, which can mean a bigger impact on your home budget.
Here’s a fun fact: on average, heating systems are responsible for about 40 percent of our homes’ energy use in cold weather. It pays to plan ahead when it comes to heating season, so we’ve created a checklist for you with a few things to keep in mind as you’re preparing for the chilly weeks and months to come!
Schedule a Tune-Up
Optimize your comfort, efficiency and peace of mind during heating season by getting a comprehensive heating tune-up for your system before the cold weather kicks into high gear. The sooner you do it, the more time you’ll have to fix any problems your technician might find. Trust us, you don’t want to be doing this in the middle of winter when temperatures are at their lowest. If you discover that you need substantial repairs or even a whole new system, you’ll still have plenty of time to get it installed before the real cold weather comes in.
Take Care of Repairs
Do you remember last winter, when temperatures remained low throughout much of the country until late May? It was a rough season for homeowners with conventional heating systems. If this winter shapes up to be anything like last year’s, chances are your equipment could benefit from some maintenance in advance. Have your technician look for leaks, damaged parts and other areas of concern, and take care of them before heating season begins.
While you wait for a technician to come by, there are a few things you can do on your own to improve your system performance in the meantime. For example, checking and changing your filter regularly is simple but crucial since a dirty filter will slow airflow through your vents, forcing your heating system to work harder. When your system works harder, it costs more to run. Filter changes also prevent dirt buildup; too much dust in the system increases the likelihood of early system failure.
Make Sensible Upgrades
If you’re considering a new heating system, now is the time! Upgrading to a high-efficiency, variable-capacity heat pump could help you save significantly on your heating bills. Also, a heat pump can provide heating and cooling, so it’ll also serve as your energy-efficient air conditioner once the season changes.
Here’s how our heat pump systems work: in heating mode, the system uses refrigerant to absorb heat outside of the home and then provides warmth by transferring the heat via refrigerant from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit(s). This method of heat transfer is powered by electricity, works in freezing weather and is much greener than fuel-burning heating systems.
For homes in especially cold climates, we recommend our Hyper-Heating INVERTER® (H2i®) systems. Units equipped with H2i technology operate at 100 percent of their rated capacity in outdoor ambient temperatures as low as 5° F.
Select units feature our new Hyper-Heating INVERTER plus (H2i plus®) technology, engineered to deliver 100 percent heating capacity down to -5°F.
It’s our goal to deliver reliable comfort to any home, anywhere. With the most advanced heat pump technology available on the market today, you can expect maximum comfort no matter where you live.
If keeping the cold at bay without seeing your energy bills skyrocket appeals to you, a heat pump system sounds like the right fit.
