Learn the Truth About how to Save Energy in Your Home
You’ve heard the term “fake news” tossed around for the past several years in the context of current events, but you’ll likely be surprised to find out the HVAC world also has fake news, especially with regard to how to conserve energy in a residential setting.
This is the sort of misinformation that could cost you money with higher energy bills or otherwise preventable heating system or AC repairs, while making your home less comfortable at the same time – and that’s a lose-lose situation.
Common and Misleading Energy-Saving Myths
Myth: Leaving lights and fans running consumes less energy over time than simply turning them on when you want light or air movement.
Truth: Go with your gut on this one. With modern technology, there’s no reason any fan, light, appliance or electronic device needs to be turned on when not in use. For example, the power surge from flipping a light switch is negligible, and the same applies to that box fan in your workshop. Turn all electrical systems off when not in use to conserve electricity.
Myth: Just leave the AC or heat at a constant level and you’ll use less energy than if you turn it up and down in an effort to optimize the system.
Truth: Common sense wins out here again. If you know you’ll be out of the house for more than a few hours, at work, school, dinner or recreation, you’ll save energy by adjusting the thermostat so the heating or cooling isn’t working at full blast while you’re gone.
For instance, on a hot summer day, set the thermostat at 78 or 80 while you’re at work, then lower the air conditioning to your comfort level when you arrive home. On a cold winter’s day, your home – including your pets and houseplants – will be fine if you lower the heat to the low 60s while you’re away for more than a few hours (or at night while you’re sleeping).
A better way to get this result, with a more seamless and consistent outcome, is to have a programmable thermostat installed in your home. You can input energy-saving programs to adjust the temperatures to your desired comfort level only for when you know you’re going to arrive home.
That way, you won’t even have a brief adjustment period when you re-enter the house: the temperature already will have been programmed to return to your preferred setting before you arrive. You can also program the device to raise or lower the temperature for optimum nighttime sleep.
Myths About Air Filters, Heat Pumps, and Empty Rooms
Myth: An HVAC air filter’s main function is to sift out unwanted contaminants from interior air, in the pursuit of better indoor air quality.
Truth: While improving air quality is one important task of an efficient furnace or AC filter, another important job is to keep dust and dirt out of system components. Dirty components in a heating or cooling system blower or air handler will make that equipment work harder and longer to do its job, thereby using more energy, increasing your energy bills.
With that increased workload, the machinery is liable to malfunction or fail sooner than otherwise, necessitating an HVAC repair or replacement that otherwise might not have happened. You don’t want to pay for an otherwise preventable AC or furnace repair or replacement in your Madeira or West Chester home. Whatever the task, your home air filter will do a better job if it’s replaced when it gets dirty.
Myth: Your energy-efficient heat pump will keep you warm all winter.
Truth: This is partially true, though in cold-winter climates, a typical air-source heat pump will struggle to heat a home comfortably during especially cold temperatures. After all, it performs its job by pulling heat energy from the outside air (so when there’s not a lot of heat energy in the outside air, it’s harder for it to do its job effectively).
When the outside air is especially cold, heat energy is harder to extract from the outside air. That’s why most heat pumps are equipped with auxiliary or emergency heating units. In most cases, this is an electric-resistance heating element or coil, but sometimes (as in a dual-fuel heat-pump system), it’s an attached natural-gas furnace.
Talk to your trusted, local HVAC professional about the benefits you’ll get from a dual-fuel heating system installation. Using an HVAC company in your area will also ensure that your technician knows which options are the best choices for your geographic area and climate conditions.
These systems are especially useful in times of energy instability, when one type of heating fuel or energy source may cost more than another.
Myth: Close the doors and heating vents to unused rooms during heating and cooling seasons, in order to save energy.
Truth: In most homes with forced-air HVAC systems, it’s OK to close off a bedroom or office if it’s not being used, but you should avoid closing off larger rooms or multiple rooms. Most whole-house HVAC systems have been designed and installed to satisfy the heating and cooling requirements of the size of your home, and the system may not work as well if too much space is closed off.
If you effectively make the home smaller by closing off rooms, your heating and cooling systems will be too large for the job. As a result, they’ll “short cycle”:
- wasting energy,
- stressing parts and
- not providing balanced heating and cooling.
If you have a whole floor or suite of rooms that has different heating and cooling requirements than other parts of the house, consider installing a zoning system that allows separate temperature control for those areas.
The Truth About Ceiling Fans and Opening Windows
Myth: Leave your ceiling fans on all day in order to create air circulation throughout your home.
Truth: In most cases, the purpose of a ceiling fan is to make the people under the fan feel cooler than they would without the fan. Circulating air isn’t the main purpose. Without people in the room to feel that cooling effect, the fan is just wasting energy.
Turn it off when nobody’s in the room, just as you would with lights that have been left on. Don’t forget to turn up the temperature setting on your thermostat a few degrees when ceiling fans are operating in occupied rooms. This will save energy while not impacting comfort.
Myth: On a warm day, consider leaving the AC off and just opening windows and sliding doors, to enjoy a cooling breeze. Or, if your air conditioner isn’t working well on a hot day, open up all the windows and doors to allow the air to flow.
Truth: Unless it’s very windy outside, the air temperature has a stronger effect on indoor comfort than any breeze that might waft into a house on a hot day. If weather permits, open the windows in the evening to benefit from the cooler nighttime air, but in the morning, as soon as the outside temperature rises above the inside temperature, close all the windows and doors and turn on ceiling fans in occupied rooms.
It’s easy enough to prove this is the correct course. On a hot day, open a sliding door and feel the heat coming into the house. It is better to keep that outside. Keeping the hot air outside also will make it easier on your AC when you do manage to get it working again.
If your AC is working fine, just turn it on rather than relying on incoming breezes to cool your home.
Myth: Your attic is a separate climate zone and has no effect on temperatures and energy use in the living spaces in your home.
Truth: In the summer, heat energy and warm air in a hot attic – with the sun beating down on the roof above all day long – can migrate into the rooms below. Warm air can enter through gaps around
- the attic door,
- recessed lighting
- other pathways, and
- uninsulated flooring.
That’s why the expert technicians at Jansen Heating & Cooling always recommend proper attic ventilation and insulation as part of our home energy analysis.
When in Doubt, Consult Your Trusted, Local HVAC Company
Just like with any homeowner challenge, it’s hard to keep track of what’s truth and what’s fiction in the HVAC world. That’s why you should find a respected and trusted heating and AC company in your community who can set you straight on the best ways to make your home comfortable in the most efficient and effective ways possible. Here at Jansen Heating & Cooling, we’ve provided homeowners across the Cincinnati area with top-notch HVAC installation, service and maintenance for decades, and you can trust us to always advise you well on your heating and cooling system.