The energy bills Shakopee, MN, homeowners encounter during the summer can encourage a greater commitment to energy efficiency in the fall and on into the year’s colder months. At Finch Home Solutions, we encourage the drive toward being more energy-efficient in the choices we make for our homes and would love to help you with some strategies. Even implementing just one of the following ideas could result in a noticeable decrease in your energy bill. Combining some or all of these practices can result in significant savings and a smaller environmental footprint.
Top Strategies for Greater Energy-Efficiency in the Fall
Here are our top strategies for your HVAC to run more energy-efficient this fall.
Preventing Drafts
One of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to boost your home’s energy efficiency this fall is to eliminate drafts. This can be accomplished by checking for cold spots throughout your home and addressing them. This involves replacing, adding, or increasing the weather stripping around windows, utility entrance points, and doors. Doing so will prevent heat loss during the colder months of the year, keeping you from having to use heat energy to keep your home warm.
Government data shows that drafts are responsible for up to 25% of heat loss in a home. By making sure that any potential areas for heat loss in the home are secured, you can save a significant amount on your heating costs.
Lower Your Thermostat
Adjusting the temperature on your thermostat is a way to be more energy-efficient. It has been found that simply lowering your thermostat by a single degree can reduce your energy costs by up to 3% over eight hours. That means that lowering your thermostat by a few degrees at night and setting it back in the morning could save hundreds of dollars a year on your heating bill. This is even easier to manage if you have a smart thermostat. You can simply set your thermostat to make these changes for you automatically.
Routine Maintenance
One of the most innovative things you can do to have your heating and cooling system running as efficiently as possible is to have us perform routine maintenance. While this helps save energy in the fall, it’s especially effective during the winter months. This is because you will likely be running your heating system to some degree around the clock in the winter. Scheduling a routine maintenance inspection and tune-up in the fall before around-the-clock heating is needed helps ensure that your system will work reliably and with maximum efficiency in the winter.
It also helps to address any minor issues before they become significant problems that could cause a heating source to break down, leaving you freezing inside your home. Routine maintenance involves checking all the components of your system, including filters, which, when clogged, can dramatically increase the energy needed to keep your home warm.
Reverse Your Ceiling Fans
Nearly all ceiling fans have a switch for reversing the direction the blades rotate. During the summer, your ceiling fan should be set to run counterclockwise. This creates a downdraft, creating a direct and cooling breeze. However, it should not be left rotating in this direction as the months get colder. As soon as you need it to stay warmer in your home, flip the switch on your ceiling fans so that the blades rotate clockwise.
This creates an updraft, pulling the warm air that is collecting near the ceiling and helping it to distribute evenly throughout a room. This is so effective at helping to redistribute heat that it allows you to lower your thermostat by an average of three to five degrees without any heat loss in your space. It also helps you save a bundle on your heating bill. It has been found that utilizing your ceiling fans to help distribute heat throughout the colder months and lowering your thermostat can save you up to 15% on your monthly bill.
Utilize Your Curtains
Utilizing the curtains in your home is a great but often overlooked way to add extra energy efficiency. The sun is an excellent source of heat, even when it is not the height of summer. During the fall months, there is still enough sunshine to use to help heat your home and keep from overworking your heating system. Solar heat that comes in through a window can raise the temperature of your room by several degrees, and it is, of course, free of charge.
Upgrade Your Insulation
Your home’s insulation is one of its first lines of defense against the colder months. It is also ideal for maximizing energy efficiency. Ensuring your insulation is as effective as possible is a smart investment during the fall months. Having a trusted contractor come in to inspect your current insulation and offer any recommendations for insulation optimization can lead to a bundle of savings on your heating bill in the colder months of the year.
Check Your Chimney
One drainer of heat energy that homeowners often overlook is their fireplace. It turns out that, even if your home is well-insulated, you can still lose a great deal of heat through an open or unsealed damper. This can result in an increase in energy consumption of a stunning 30%. Furthermore, as much as a roaring fire is aesthetically pleasing and great for gathering around with family or cozying up to as a couple, it doesn’t provide much heat. The bulk of the heat created by a fire is lost up the open chimney.
Just how much heat is lost? You are only getting about 10% to 20% of the heat that the fire is generating. That means that for every $100 you spend on firewood, you only receive a median average of $15 worth of heat. All that hot air being lost results in your furnace having to work harder to make up the difference. By making sure that your damper is sealed and closed when a fire is not running, you can keep a great deal of heat from escaping your home.
You can also increase your energy efficiency by not using your fireplace as a primary heat source and practicing some of the other strategies in this list.
Your Local Autumn Energy-Efficiency Team
If you live in Shakopee or the surrounding area and are looking for ways to increase your energy efficiency this fall, Finch Home Solutions is here to help. We are a team that provides the best energy-efficiency solutions to homeowners in the Twin Cities and have been servicing the area for years. Our five-star reviews show how pleased the community is with our honesty, pricing, knowledge, and hard work. We also provide a full range of electrical services with the same dedication to quality.
If you are ready to see what Finch Home Solutions can do for you, give us a call today or fill out our convenient online service request form for an upgrade to your electrical services.
