Keeping a Warm Home This Fall
- Change the filter: the number one reason as to why your home doesn’t warm could be because of a dirty, dusty heating and cooling system filter. When your filter is clogged full of dirt, warm air produced from your furnace or boiler can’t as easily circulate through the ducts of your home. Check your owner’s manual to be sure that you are replacing the existing filter with a new one that is the proper size. If this doesn’t take care of the problem, your next step will be to call in a heating and cooling professional.
- Keep your curtains open during the day: When the sun is out, one of the best ways to make sure that your home stays warm and toasty is to keep the curtains open. This allows you to capture free heat from the sunlight.
- Prevent warm air from escaping through your chimney: Believe it or not, a wood-burning fireplace could actually make your home feel chilly. This is because the chimney is pulling out warm air from the inside of your home that is produced from your furnace or boiler. This is known as the “stack effect.” To prevent this problem, make sure that you are using a glass front for your fireplace to prevent heated air from escaping.
- Check your ceiling fans: During the colder months of the year, your ceiling fan’s blades should be spinning in a clockwise direction. This will prevent warmed air from being trapped up at the ceiling level. The fan’s blades will push the warmed air downward so that you and your family can be warm and cozy.
- Move furniture: It will be important for you to be sure that you don’t have any couches, chairs, beds, or other types of furniture sitting in front of vents. This can prevent warmed air from your furnace/boiler from being circulated through the room. You should also be sure that you don’t have any curtains or drapes blocking the vents.
- Seal window and door frames: If your home feels excessively drafty this season, it could be a result of air leaks in your window and door frames. This occurs whenever there are gaps between the frames and the walls of your home. This can be taken care of with caulking and weather stripping.
- Keep the doors closed: When your family is enjoying time together in the living room, kitchen, dining room, etc., keep the door closed. This can help to prevent warmed air from circulating out of the room and into other areas of the home.
These tips are offered to help you with keeping your home warm during the chilly months ahead. Also, please remember to ALWAYS use caution if you and your family intend on using space heaters as they can be very dangerous!