Three Inspections You Should Make For This Upcoming Winter Season
We’re all familiar with the trend; it feels like our energy bills seem to rise just as the temperature starts to fall. Keeping a home properly heated for personal comfort during harsh winter seasons can be extraordinarily expensive if you’re relying solely on your thermostat. However, there are a few inspections that homeowners can make that can drastically improve your energy efficiency.
Unless you have professional experience inspecting these parts of a home, you’ll have to phone a professional service to help you. However, from a cost-benefit angle, the numbers prove that preventative inspections can make a huge difference in reducing property damage and improving energy efficiency associated with maintaining a comfortable indoor environment.
The home’s seal / insulation
When it’s summertime and humidity has the entire household feeling sticky and unpleasant, we all know that ventilation is the way to go for good indoor air quality. But when winter is in full swing, keeping a tightly sealed home is essential in preventing leaking your precious conditioned air.
First, make sure that there are no gaps through which wind can draft through. Any holes in your home’s seal is another step towards poor energy efficiency, and these should be sealed with appropriate applications. Your ductwork is another critical zone, since leaks there could severely impact your airflow. Finally, having your insulation inspected to ensure that it is sufficient and in-tact is a great way to prevent warmth from leaving your home.
Heating equipment
Of course, one of the first stops in making sure that your house will be able to maintain an appropriately warm environment is you heating equipment. It’s crucial to make sure that your system has routine preventative maintenance conducted.
While replacing the filter in your air supply registers is simple enough, you might require a professional to clean the coils and other aspects of your heating system. If you have weak airflow or unusually high energy bills, having a service professional help you troubleshoot your problems can save you money in the long run.
Your indoor humidity
When it comes to comfort, it’s important to remember that temperature is not the only factor at play. Humidity can be just as important in contributing to our comfort – or discomfort. Typically, most climates suffer from excessive humidity in the Summer and very arid air during the Winter.
There are several ways that we can adjust our indoor humidity easily. When the air is dry, simply boiling a pot of water or filling a bath with hot water can help in the short-term. However, individuals with chronic humidity issues due to extreme climates, inappropriately sized equipment, or poorly maintained systems should consider measuring their humidity regularly and adjusting it using either: A) a humidity control upgrade available for most varieties of HVAC systems or B) using humidifiers / dehumidifying equipment as necessary.
These are just a few ways that we can feel the heat during this upcoming Winter without letting our budgets burn out. When worst comes to worst, always remember that bundling up and wearing layers can go a far in keeping yourself comfortable no matter how chilly it gets.
Author bio: Jason Wall is a licensed HVAC technician with Griffith Energy Services. He enjoys connecting with consumers and other professionals online when he’s free from work in the field and managing the Griffith blog.
Category: Housing
