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How to Save on Your Heating Bill

Friday, June 29th, 2018

How to Save on Your Heating Bill without Having to Crawl Around Under Your House

10 Simple Energy Efficiency Tips That Pay for Themselves in Weeks (7 Are Totally Free)

fireplace and HVAC energy efficiency saves money and helps environment

There’s big money to be saved on your heating bill this winter just by improving your energy efficiency. The problem is, you probably don’t have time or interest in unrolling messy insulation or crawling around under your house or in your attic.

The good news is, there are a ton of super-easy steps you can take to keep more heat in your home, and produce heat more efficiently.

Each of the energy efficiency tips you’re about to see are either free, or will pay for themselves this winter, not five years from now.

10 Energy Efficient Ways to Save on Your Heating Bill This Winter

1. “Do You Feel a Draft?” Check Your Windows

You can feel it, but you can’t find it. That slight cold breeze that’s biting into your winter comfort, as well as your heating bill.

It’s most likely coming from your windows or doors. According to Popular Mechanics, 7-12% of heat loss happens through your doors and windows.

A couple simple steps you can take to prevent heat loss through your windows:

• Keep them closed and locked in the winter. Just by locking them, you close the gap that air can seep through.

Cost: Free

• Put fresh caulking around them to renew the seals.

Cost: Under $10

2. Do You See the Light? That’s a Bad Sign

air escaping under your door hurts energy efficiency no matter how good your heater is

If there’s sunlight visible under or around your doors, that’s a ‘green light’ for hot air to gleefully escape your home and drive up your heating bill.

Two ways to slash your heat loss through your doors:

• Put weatherstripping around the door. This makes a huge difference, and also keeps bugs out.

Cost: Varies depending on type – from $20 to $100 per door

• Increase the height of your door’s threshold.

Cost: Free, or under $25 if replacing it

If there’s light under or around your door, these two changes will reduce the strain on your heating system, because all that warm air it’s working hard to produce will now be staying in the house.

3. Check Your Attic Access Door

Ever go up in your attic during a cold month, and wonder why it’s nice and toasty up there where no one is? This is a sign that your attic door isn’t sealing well and is allowing heat to escape, just like your other doors.

But unlike your other doors, heat rises, so the attic door’s cost on your heating bill can be even greater. Keep the door firmly closed and sealed, and if necessary, consider adding some insulation (just a small amount – it’s only a door!) or other barriers above the door to keep the heat in.

Cost: Free to Very Cheap

4. It’s ‘Curtains’ for Your Heating Bill

open curtains in day in winter and close at night to save on heating bill

Again – windows are a major source of heat loss. Even with good seals, heat still escapes through them. But in the day, sunlight can come through windows and warm up your house, even in the winter.

So, open your curtains!

In the day, keep them open and let the sun warm up your interiors. At night, close them so you trap a little more heat in the house.

Cost: Free

5. Keep Your Vents Clear

If you have forced-air heating especially, don’t make your furnace or heat pump work harder than it needs to. That’s wasted efficiency.

Keep couches, chairs, low tables, and desks away from your vents so warm air can flow freely and more quickly heat up the home.

Also, putting certain kinds of materials too close to heating vents (and especially floorboard heaters) is a fire hazard. So you shouldn’t have anything too close to your vents anyway.

Cost: Free

6. Don’t Heat an Empty House

If no one’s there, why heat the home? Coming home to a cold house is a small price to pay for a huge savings in your heating bill.

Cost: Free

7. Use Programmable Thermostats

Programmable thermostats make the empty house problem easy to solve without sacrificing comfort, because you can schedule them to come on 15 minutes before you get home or wake up.

And today, there are ‘smart’ thermostats that learn your rhythms and manage your temperatures without you having to do anything. These do cost more though, so the savings take longer to recover, and some systems are not compatible with smart thermostats.

Cost: Under $40 (around $350 – $450 for ‘smart’ thermostats)

8. Dress Warmer

dressing warmer reduces need to heat house and saves money on heating bill

If you don’t want to wear four layers of clothing, big blankets can be very comfortable throughout the day. And more blankets on your bed can accomplish the same thing at night. But just dressing warmer allows you to lower the temperature in your home and still be comfortable.

You will save about 3% on your heating bill for every degree you can lower the temperature on your thermostat. That adds up fast. The difference between a 72 degree home and a 65 degree home will save you a lot of money.

Cozy is the new cheap.

Cost: Free

9. Change Your Air Filter

Some people pat themselves on the back for installing furnaces (or ACs) with high energy efficiency ratings. And you should be pleased – that’s a great decision to make.

But, if you don’t clean or change out your air filter regularly, you’re literally blowing away all the benefits of your higher efficiency unit. A dirty filter makes the furnace or heat pump have to work a lot harder to produce the same amount of warm air required to heat your home.

So, change out your air filter, or clean it if it’s not too bad, and your heater will operate at the level of energy efficiency you expect it to. B&C changes out air filters as part of our regular furnace maintenance service.

Cost of new filter: Varies by size and type – $20 – $80

10. Do a Maintenance Update

Whether it’s your gas fireplace or your furnace, regular maintenance improves your energy efficiency and saves you money.

For fireplaces, when soot and other buildup starts clogging gas flow and reducing the efficiency of the burner, it takes longer to heat up the room because the fireplace has to work harder and the flame is weaker. That means more cost to you – if your goal is to heat your home with your fireplace. If your gas fireplace is built mainly for decoration, then the efficiency question doesn’t really apply to you here.

Learn more about gas fireplace maintenance

For furnaces, faulty components, rusty startup controls, dirty air filters, and parts that have lost lubrication make the unit work harder to produce the same amount of warm air. Lack of maintenance also just reduces the operational life of the unit, so this makes sense from an energy efficiency standpoint as well as a practical one.

Learn more about HVAC maintenance

B&C Comfort is one of the only fireplace repair and maintenance providers in the South Snohomish County and East King County areas.

We’re usually booked out several months, so if you want to tune up your fireplace or your furnace before winter, SUMMER is the time to get on our schedule.

Schedule a fireplace or maintenance appointment today

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Posted in AC service, Energy efficiency, Fireplace service, maintenance | Comments Off on How to Save on Your Heating Bill

Did the Winter Weather Damage Your Air Conditioner?

Thursday, March 30th, 2017

Spring AC Maintenance: Don’t Wait Until July to Find Out If Your AC Still Works!

Summer is coming. And even here in the Pacific Northwest, we get a couple of hot months each year, and usually a few weeks of miserable heat. After some extreme winter weather, you don’t want to wait until the hot days arrive to find out if your air conditioner still works.

We recommend testing out your AC in April or May during the first warm spell. Just turn it on and run it for an hour to see what happens.

Feel the air coming out the vents.
Go listen to the unit operate.
Look around the unit to see if there are any liquids coming out.

If everything seems to be working okay and you don’t hear any strange noises, then you might only need minimal maintenance work done. But if anything’s not quite right, or if the whole system isn’t working, you’ll be glad you caught it now before the first serious heat wave hits the area.

Tips for Spring AC Maintenance

The secret to avoiding big AC repair costs is consistent care and ongoing maintenance. And the simplest thing you can do is to clean or replace the filter regularly. A clogged filter reduces the efficiency of the unit, which means higher costs for you because it has to work harder to perform the same task.

Note: The filter is in the indoor AC unit, not the outdoor component. If you don’t know much about air conditioners, checking the filter is probably best left to an expert.

A good indicator that your filter may be clogged is if the fans work (air still comes out the vents), but it isn’t cold. This isn’t the only explanation of that, but it’s a good possible cause to check first.

Over time, with continual buildup, the motors will have to work too hard and will break down sooner than they should. And a broken motor isn’t something most people can fix themselves.Spring AC maintenance tips include cleaning debris from the unit, battery check, filter replacement

So follow this simple guide to Spring AC maintenance to avoid big repair costs:

  • Clean your filter
  • Change your filter if it’s dirty
  • Clean the unit of winter debris and any mold or filth that may have built up
  • Check the thermostat batteries – this is so often the problem! So simple to fix!

Another maintenance step is to lubricate certain moving parts. But again, knowing which parts need this and which ones do not requires more expertise than a typical homeowner has. If you’re not sure, you shouldn’t do this on your own.

And, depending on your physical abilities and willingness to get dirty, you might need to hire a professional to do some of these tasks. But doing this in the spring will ensure you make it through the summer heat wave with a working air conditioner.

What to Do If Your AC Doesn’t Start

If it doesn’t start, take action now so you can be sure you’ll have cool air in the hot weeks of summer.

Perform the maintenance tasks listed above or hire someone to come out and do them for you. Also, try re-setting your breaker switch. Wait for five minutes before turning it back on again. This will allow the system to reset.

If basic maintenance doesn’t fix the problem, then you probably have a more technically-specific flaw that requires more skill to fix.

What are possible problems causing your AC not to start?

  • Electrical problems – this is the most common cause. It could be a blown fuse or a breaker switch turned off. Could be the wiring in your thermostat
  • Broken compressor – the safety controls on most AC units won’t allow your system to start if the compressor is broken
  • Broken or clogged motors – again, the system can’t turn on without these crucial parts working right
  • Low coolant – could be leaking or just running low. If so, this is a major problem that needs immediate attention from a professional
  • Full condenser drain – if you know how to empty it, this is a good step to take. But again, this is a technically-proficient task that is best left to a professional

While most outdoor air conditioning units are built to withstand the weather, multiple periods of freezing and thawing, combined with lots of rain, debris, critters, and moisture, will have an effect over time.

So if your AC isn’t starting at all, you’ve tried resetting the breakers, and you’ve checked the thermostat batteries, then one of these culprits is likely the problem.

In that case, if you live in Snohomish county, Kirkland, Lynwood, Edmonds, Monroe, and the surrounding areas, schedule an appointment to have us come out and look at your AC. You can learn more about basic AC and furnace troubleshooting here.

Get on the schedule soon so you can be sure your AC will be fixed before summer – we fill up fast!

 

Schedule your AC repair appointment by contacting us

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Posted in AC service, maintenance | 5 Comments »

Why We Don’t Install or Service Ventless Fireplaces

Monday, January 9th, 2017

Risks of “Vent-free” Fireplaces not Worth the Benefits

Ventless fireplaces are simply too unsafe for us to work on and still stand by our commitment to your safety. While it’s true there are no documented deaths from ventless fireplaces, it’s also true that many people report headaches and other health problems that seem to be caused by them.

But if that’s all true, why are ventless fireplaces even allowed to be sold?

A Quick Guide to Vent-Free Fireplaces

Just like the name implies, ventless fireplaces have no vents. A typical fireplace has either a flue or a chimney. Why? Because fire is a combustion reaction, and it produces gases and other waste products that have to go somewhere. But with a chimney you also lose some of the desirable heat.

The theory behind ventless fireplaces is that if we can burn the fire clean enough and minimize the gases produced, we can reap the benefits of having more heat come in the home.

Also, they are less expensive and easier to install, and they can look nice as part of a room in places you don’t normally see a fireplace, such as the side of a wall.

Ventless fireplaces burn natural gas or propane, and they get their oxygen fuel from the air inside your house. They can be powered by electricity, or alcohol gels.

They typically come with carbon monoxide detectors that will automatically shut off the fire if the CO levels get too high.

And therein lies the main reason we don’t do ventless at B&C Comfort.

Are You Comfortable Trusting Your Life to a CO Detector?

We aren’t. With a ventless fireplace, you are knowingly producing deadly (and odorless) carbon monoxide and letting it into your home, as well as carbon dioxide, which is harmful too if you get too much of it in a closed room. At the same time, you’re using up the oxygen to burn the fire.

So, you’re reducing the oxygen you need to breathe, and you’re increasing the gases that can harm or even kill you.

Is that a comfortable way to live? Not to us.

Gas has to go somewhere. It doesn’t matter how clean the fire burns. It will produce carbon dioxide and water vapor – guaranteed. And if the combustion process becomes more inefficient, such as from a buildup of soot on the logs, then more deadly CO will also be produced. That’s basic science.

So if your CO detector fails, you are putting yourself at serious risk.

Some states and countries have even outlawed them because of these risks. And even businesses who continue to install ventless fireplaces agree that people with asthma or other respiratory illnesses shouldn’t use them.

If there were no risk at all, then their proponents wouldn’t agree even with these exceptions.

4 More Reasons to Remove a Ventless Fireplace If You Have One

  • They smell bad. Why? Because other waste products from combustion also get sent into your home.
  • They still require maintenance and cleaning. If soot builds up in your regular gas fireplace, you just lose some efficiency. That’s not good, and it’s why fireplace cleaning is one of our main services. But if soot builds up in a ventless fireplace, you’ll produce more carbon monoxide, and it will come into your home. That’s life-threatening. Cleaning now becomes about saving your life, rather than just keeping the fireplace working right.
  • Log placement is equally vital, for the same reasons as maintenance and cleaning. Again, this matters in regular gas fireplaces too. Click here for more information about gas fireplace log placement.
  • Ventless fireplaces also produce a lot of water vapor – another byproduct of combustion. Again, you can’t avoid this. It will happen, and it means your house will be more humid. Depending on where you live, some people want more moisture. But here in the northwest, more moisture usually means a greater risk of mold.

While ventless fireplaces certainly have some benefits – less cost, attractive appearance, easier to install, more heat – the risks they carry are simply too great.

We aren’t willing to risk the health and safety of our customers. For that reason, and all the others you’ve just read, we don’t install or service ventless fireplaces. And if you do get any health problems from a ventless fireplace, your cost savings have just gone up in smoke.

If you have a ventless fireplace and want it removed – contact us today and we’ll schedule an appointment.

For more about our award-winning fireplace repair and maintenance service, or to make an appointment:

Visit our fireplace services page

 

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