This winter is going to be a bad one in regards to heating costs. Recently, the public fuel company in our area predicted that heating costs would rise 40% to 60% this winter and President Clinton said the high heating costs could result in a recession. To make this increase less painful, make sure your furnace is working at top efficiency or consider replacing it with a newer, higher-efficiency unit. Now, before the heating season heats up, is the best time take the necessary steps to make sure your family is comfortable this winter without making your pocketbook uncomfortable.
Newer furnaces offer 90 to 96% efficiency while ones that are ten to twelve years old have 55 to 60% efficiency. That means for every dollar of fuel you put into an older furnace, around 40 cents is wasted. But for every dollar of fuel you put into a newer, high-efficiency furnace, only a nickel is not used to heat your home.
For people with older, less efficient furnaces, it may pay off in the long run to research purchasing a new furnace. If you're planning to stay in the house for the next five years, you'll see a return in lower fuel costs. While a furnace is a costly investment, the savings can be significant.
The average life expectancy of a furnace is between fifteen and twenty years. You can prolong the life of your furnace by proper maintenance and regular service checks.
Your furnace should be checked annually by a trained service professional for both safety and efficiency reasons. Two winters ago, my family and I experienced a carbon monoxide scare. This could have been avoided if we had the furnace serviced. We tried to save a few bucks and it nearly cost us our lives. The service professional will not only change your furnace filter, but clean the system, check the heat exchanger, inspect the working parts of the furnace and check the humidifier. That smell you get when you first turn on your furnace at the beginning of heating season is the smell of dust burning in a dirty furnace. Dirty burners use more energy.
In addition to an annual service check, you should change your furnace filter once a month to keep your furnace working well.
Adding a humidifier to your existing furnace can allow you to keep your thermostat set two or three degrees lower without feeling any difference. Humidity in the air gives you the same comfort level at a little lower temperature. Also, if you're away from home during the day, a programmable thermostat can keep the home cooler while your
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