Don't Sweat It: The Furnace Cheat Sheet
DON'T ŞWEAT IT Tri THE FURNACE CHEAT SHEET - Typically, over 50% of total home energy use goes to heating. As Old Man Winter's chilly breath starts to blow, check your furnace and get your house in order to keep those heating costs down. Furnace Physical Schedule an annual professional safety and maintenance checkup. It usually includes the cleaning and inspection of the items diagramed below. THERMOSTAT FLUE PIPE SAFETY FEATURES PILOT LIGHT OR IGNITION Air filter replacement Carbon monoxide test Most filters should be changed Test the carbon monoxide alarms on each floor of your home twice a year, when changing your clocks. every 3 months. De-clutter Clear the furnace area of Cleaning products Newspapers Boxes * The safest practice would be to keep the area clean of all types of materials. flammable materials. Shut the Door on Heat Loss Check your home for cracks. Seal any air leaks with appropriate caulking, weather strip or sealant. JUNCTION OF CHIMNEY AND SIDING ATTIC HATCHES CORNERS VENTS DOOR AND WINDOW FRAMES SWITCH PLATES FAUCETS FIREPLACE OUTLETS BASEBOARDS FOUNDATION BASEMENTS AND CRAWL SPACES Buy a programmable thermostat. Set it to turn the heat down 8-10 degrees when you're sleeping or gone. 12 By lowering it for 8hrs/day, you.. SAVE 5%-15% annually 9:20PR 62 'C Assess your windows. • Put storm windows on. Hang insulating drapes on heavy-use windows. Tape clear plastic to frames of lower-use windows. • Cover unused windows with foam panels. Furnace Facelift Furnaces use either gas (natural or propane), oil or electricity for fuel. Efficiency is measured as an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency rating. (AFUE) Electric furnaces are Older gas and oil furnaces are only 56% to 70% efficient. 95% to 100% efficient, New ones must be at least 75% efficient. but electricity costs more. Retrofit older gas and oil furnaces for more efficiency. A jump from 60 to 90%.. 90% 60% will save you $33.33 annually for every $100 of fuel costs. Quarter-life Crisis The average life of a consistently maintained furnace is 25 years, so if yours is getting older, it's time to look for a new one. Determine how much heat your home needs. SEVERE-WINTERS MODERATE-WINTERS MILD-WINTERS -50 to 0 O to 30 30 to 40+ 3,200 BTUS sq.ft./month 2,000 BTUS sq.ft./month 1,000 BTUS sq.ft./month A British Thermal Unit (BTU) is standard measurement of the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree F. HIGHER EFFICIENCY = LOWER OPERATIONAL COST Plus... A natural gas, propane or $150.00 oil furnace with an AFUE rating of 95% or more can net you a tax credit of... Consider fuel costs. Natural Gas: $7.54 per million Btu Propane: $24.82 per million Btu Oil: $29.12 per million Btu Electricity: $34.22 per million Btu *Prices for 2012-13 heating season (Oct.-March). nicorhomesolutions.com Nicor Home Solutions" Sources: eia.gov · energy.gov . energystar.gov maine.gov - michigan.gov . nbcdfw.com - thisoldhouse.com - today.com - travisindustries.com A Nicor Gas Affiliate
Don't Sweat It: The Furnace Cheat Sheet
Source
Unknown. Add a sourceCategory
HomeGet a Quote