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Heat Your Home the Natural Way

December 21, 2011 5:26 pm

The New Year has arrived along with a nationwide blast of cold temperatures leaving homeowners wondering how to bring heating and related energy costs and usage down while maintaining home comfort. In addition to plugging air leaks, the Alliance to Save Energy is encouraging homeowners to use sunlight as a cheap alternative to heating their home.

The Alliance provides the following tips for homeowners to heat their home for less this winter:

-Open curtains and other window treatments on your west- and south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night.

-Let a programmable thermostat “remember for you” to lower the heat while your home is empty and/or overnight to reduce heating costs by up to 10 percent–and allow you to come home and wake up to a toasty, comfortable house.

-Keep furnace filters clean - check and change your filter every month during heavy-use winter months to assist air flow so your system doesn't have to work harder to keep you warm.

-Seal your heating and cooling ducts. In a typical house with a forced air system, about 20 percent of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts. Sealing and insulating ducts increases efficiency, lowers home energy bills and can often pay for itself in energy savings.

-Properly maintain your HVAC system. Just as a tune-up for your car can improve your gas mileage, a semi-annual or yearly tune-up of your heating and cooling system can improve efficiency and comfort. The federal government’s ENERGY STAR website (www.energystar.gov) can help you find a qualified individual.

For more information, visit www.ase.org.
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