• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header left navigation
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Start Here
  • Money Pit Podcast
The Money Pit house logo

The Money Pit

Home Improvement Tips, Ideas & Podcasts

  • Media Kit
  • Posts
  • Spaces
    • Kitchens
    • Bathrooms
    • Home Exteriors
    • Garages & Sheds
    • Outdoor Living
    • Basements & Crawlspaces
  • Reno/Repair
    • Heating
    • Floors
    • Windows
    • Roofs & Gutters
    • Lighting & Wiring
  • Popular Topics
    • Storage & Organization
    • Painting & Decorating
    • Cleaning
    • Pests & Wildlife
    • Buying or Selling a Home
  • Features
    • DIY
    • Pet Friendly
    • Green Home
    • Quick Tips
  • Podcasts
    • Subscribe
    • The Money Pit Podcast
    • Your Calls, Our Answers Podcast
    • Money Pit Minute Podcast
    • Top Products Podcast
heating, costs, gas, furnace, carbon monoxide, best heating system

3 Home Heating Mistakes That Increase Your Energy Bills

Home » 3 Home Heating Mistakes That Increase Your Energy Bills

3 Home Heating Mistakes That Increase Your Energy Bills

HeatingSaving EnergyGreen Home
Facebook0Tweet0Pin0LinkedIn0Email0
heating, costs, gas, furnace, carbon monoxide, best heating system
by Cristina Miguelez Leave a Comment

As the days get shorter and temperatures start to sink, most households find their home heating bills starting to run out of control. Even worse, sometimes it feels like your house just stays cold no matter how high you crank the heat! If this sounds like your life, it’s time to take some action to lower those heating costs by addressing these three common home heating mistakes.

home heating, furnace

Mistake #1: Neglecting HVAC System Maintenance
Whether you have baseboard heat, old-school radiators, forced-air heating or radiant heat through the floor, it’s essential to keep up with routine maintenance. Forced-air systems in particular can lose a lot of efficiency when they aren’t properly maintained.

Basic issues like clogged filters or fans that don’t rotate correctly can throw off the entire system in surprising ways. While it isn’t necessarily dangerous to operate your system while these types of problems are in play, they usually make the system work harder to produce warmth. As a result, your home feels cold and your bills get expensive.

You should be able to change your system’s air filter and otherwise monitor the basic health of the system, but you might want to call in a professional for extra help if you aren’t satisfied with how efficient your system is.  A yearly furnace inspection and cleaning is essential to safe and efficient operation of your heating system.  Duct cleaning, replacement of malfunctioning parts or readjustment of airflow controls can also potentially decrease your heating-related energy usage.

winter, home heating, window

Mistake #2: Ignoring Drafty Windows and Attics
Older homes with outdated windows can leak a surprising amount of heat, especially if they aren’t properly sealed. Even a small crack along the base or side of a window can have a big impact when it’s really cold outside. An imperfectly sealed window can be a major point of energy inefficiency as well. Glass isn’t a great insulator on its own, and outdated single-pane windows are often to blame for heat leaks. Heavy drapes or insulating panels can help solve this problem. Curtains that are heavy enough to block cold air can also keep hot sunshine out of the house, providing a year-round temperature control benefit.

Attic drafts can also be a big problem for winter energy efficiency. Cold air can come in through the attic, but since heat rises, escaping air is a more common problem. If you find that snow starts to melt off your roof more quickly than it does with your neighbors’ houses and that icicles are a common problem at your house, chances are that your attic isn’t properly insulated, and that’s likely costing you some big bucks. Upgrade insulation in the attic and throughout your home to nip this problem in the bud.

thermostat, home heating

Mistake #3: Thermostat Abuse
There are a few ways to improve your use of the thermostat, but they won’t work that well if your home isn’t heating efficiently in other areas, so take care of the issues discussed above first. Then you can recalibrate your approach to the thermostat. You might also want to upgrade to a digital, programmable thermostat that allows for round-the-clock temperature control. You can set it to turn the heat down while you’re asleep or at work, for example, to save a lot of money when you don’t really need a toasty-warm house. A programmable thermostat can address a variety of additional issues as well.

One common mistake that families make is to crank up the heat for cold folks while shutting off heat registers in the bedrooms of those who don’t like it hot. This is actually not a good idea because it causes pressure inconsistencies within the HVAC system and ultimately leads the system to work harder and use more energy.

Instead of choosing inefficient solutions like that, just set the thermostat to a reasonably low temperature at the beginning of the season and leave it. Constantly adjusting the thermostat up and down isn’t a very good idea because it actually prevents us from acclimating properly to colder winter temperatures. This means that we end up thinking we need the heat higher necessary, which leads us back down the road to costly bills.

home heating, comfort

Avoid Costly Energy Efficiency Mistakes This Winter

Don’t get caught making major energy mistakes with your heating system this winter. Address inefficiency on multiple fronts by getting your system in good working order, blocking drafts and controlling your thermostat the right way.  While a professional energy audit can be a good next step, you might be able to make a significant improvements  simply by addressing just a few up-front investments can end up saving you hundreds of dollars over the course of a few months.

HeatingSaving EnergyGreen Home
Facebook0Tweet0Pin0LinkedIn0Email0

Related Posts

house, for sale, buying or selling homesHome Inspection Tips for SellersThe Money Pit Guide to Home InsulationHome energy auditor working with a tabletHome Energy Audits: Save Money and Conserve Energylower heating bills12 Hot Ideas to Lower Your Heating Billsheating, costs, gas, furnace, carbon monoxide, best heating systemHome Heating Fuel OptionsOld house needing repairHome Repair Tips by Age of House

Related Podcasts

The Money Pit Top Products PodcastLG Leads in Energy Efficiency at Greenbuild 2013The Money Pit Top Products PodcastChargePoint Home is a Break-through in Electric Vehicle ChargingThe Money Pit Top Products PodcastHome Depot Program Simplifies LEED for HomesThe Money Pit Top Products PodcastNexia™ Home Intelligence Helps you Stay ConnectedThe Money Pit Top Products PodcastNest Innovations Expand at 2015 Consumer Electronics ShowThe Money Pit Your Calls Our Answers Podcast LogoHow to Build an Energy Efficient Home

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sidebar

About Cristina Miguelez

Cristina Miguelez writes for Fixr.com and is a popular contributor to The Money Pit, offering remodeling & home decor ideas that help homeowners make better decisions about their home improvements, and save money while doing them!

Favorite Posts

Installing a security camera

A Simple Guide To Security Camera Positioning Around Your House

HART Tools in workshop

Expecting a Tax Refund? Here’s 3 Projects You Can Totally Get Done for Less!

greenhouse

Grow Fresh Veggies Year-Round with a Backyard Greenhouse

Yaheetech 32in Outdoor Metal Wood Burning Firepit Square Table Lifestyle

12 Best Outdoor Fire Pits Under $100

Popular Podcasts

Woman planting in a raised garden bed

Episode #2091: Building a Raised Garden Bed | Home Energy Audits | Avoiding Home Buying Remorse | Your Q & A

Lawn mower cutting grass

Episode #2090: Save Time Cutting Grass | Tips for Paint & Primer | Home Office Renos | Your Q & A

Realtor showing a home to a couple

Episode #2089: Buying a Rental Home | Tips for Terrazzo Floors | Garage Door Do-Overs | Your Q & A

Deer in the backyard

Episode #2088: Keeping Wildlife Out of Your Garden | Big Ideas for Small Baths | Stopping Closet Clutter | Your Q & A

Newsletter

Get weekly updates with the latest tips and tricks to save money in your home.



  • Media Kit
  • Partners
  • Endorsement Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy and Cookie Solution
  • About
  • Affiliates
  • Cookie Policy (US)

Copyright © 2021 · The Money Pit · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!