by Kerry L. Thomas

Created on: November 02, 2009

Looking to save energy with your heating furnace? Did you know that all types of heating furnaces can waste energy and cost you extra money to operate? There are simple things that can be done, such as lowering your thermostat a couple degrees in the winter. There are other considerations that factor into saving energy with a home heating furnace. Here are some things you can do to make sure you are getting the most efficient operation from your furnace. Let's look at the various types of furnaces and see what can be done for each type.

Forced Air Systems:

Forced air systems are those systems that use duct work to deliver heated/cooled air throughout your home. The actual heat source for these systems can come from electric,via a heat pump,natural or LP gas,heating oil,or even hot water systems. We can ignore the actual method used to produce the heat for the moment and just concentrate on the key components of the forced air system that can waste energy and reduce efficiency.

The one common element to the forced air systems is the duct work and fan/fans used to force the air to the conditioned spaces in your home. All properly installed systems should have air filtration equipment that can consist of a simple filter or even more complex air filtration equipment to capture dust and debris that is readily circulating in the air of your home. The most important thing to do to save energy is to keep the air filters changed on a regular basis. Air filters are inexpensive and should be changed monthly at least. Systems that use the more complex air filtration systems should be cleaned and checked monthly as well.

Ideally you want the air to be able to flow freely over the heating source and capture and distribute this heat into your home. Another area to watch is the fan itself, which can become clogged with dirt and thus lose its ability to circulate the air. Homes that have smokers present will need to pay special attention to the fan as tar and nicotine deposits tend to form a sticky film that makes the dust cling to the blades. The fan assembly can be removed in most cases and will allow you to take it outside and blow the debris out of the blades. If the debris is stuck due to smoking deposits then it can be quite difficult to get the debris loose without using a brush of some sort to scrape it out. If you do attempt to clean the fan...Never use water to try to wash the blades as you don't want the water to get into the fan motor. If you encounter a heavily clogged

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