by Deborah Percy

Created on: November 04, 2009

Top tips: use your furnace less to save energy, save the planet and save your dollars. Keep the furnace use down with these suggestions

Five tips to keep your furnace turned off:

1. Have curtains open fully on sunny days to let the sunlight flood in, warming your home naturally and for free.

2. Eliminate or minimize drafts around your windows. If you cannot afford to replace old windows, then use heavy drapes, shutters or insulating materials. You can buy purpose-made secondary glazing or improvise, the aim is to create a few layers between the cold window pain and the breezes coming in from around the frame, keeping the cold air on one side and the warm air in your house.

3. Insulate around your doors. A common and easy method is to have a large heavy drape fitted behind the door, drafts stop there. Insulating materials are available to make sure doors seal shut, including around letter boxes and cat flaps.

4. Insulate your home, in addition to doors and windows, consider walls and attic. Modern eco-homes are being built which have far higher levels of insulation than is usual; it is claimed that such homes will require minimal heating.

5. Keep yourself warm by wearing extra layers of clothes. Layers of thin cotton will trap the warmth of your body, so a vest is a good idea. Wool also has excellent insulating qualities. If all else fails and it is still too cold, consider wearing a hat and growing a beard!

It is cold, the heating is on, five more tips to save energy, assuming you are not about to upgrade to a high efficiency furnace.

1. Use the thermostat. Around 70 degrees Fahrenheit will be comfortable for relaxing in the evening, but it could be lower in the daytime and a lot lower at night when you are in bed or when you are out. Turn it down by about 15 degrees. That may seem a lot, but experts agree that you will save more money by setting your thermostat at a lower temperature to prevent freezing and only warming up the home when you are in it.

2. Make sure the registers are open and free of clutter, furniture, and rugs. The forced air heating system was designed to let air circulate. Closed registers do not save energy, but may actually cost more because the furnace will work harder to do the job.

3. Check ducts for leaks and get them sealed. Leaky ducts will waste energy.

4. Change your furnace filter regularly, usually monthly. This protects the furnace from small debris. If the filter is blocked the furnace must work harder to get enough air.

5. Have your furnace serviced regularly.

These top ten tips should save you money on heating costs.

Energy saving tips: Furnaces

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