While preparing your home for the holidays, it can be easy to focus on the decorating, cooking, and cleaning, but don’t forget about your home systems that will face increased use and stress. In this month’s blog, the home comfort specialists at Main Stream Mechanical offer tips you can take to keep your systems running efficiently while ensuring you and your guests enjoy a comfortable stay in your home.
Use your ceiling fans. Ceiling fans are not just used to cool a room, they’re equally vital to keeping a room warm too. As cool air sinks and warm air rises, switch your fans to low speed and in clockwise direction to push warm air down from the ceiling. A ceiling fan used along with your heating system helps keep the room warmer without having to bump up your thermostat.
Keep the damper closed. When your fireplace damper is open, warm air escapes and cold air breezes in, creating a drafty feeling in your home. To prevent warm air from leaving and to maintain a comfortable temperature when the fireplace isn’t in use, keep your damper closed.
Tune up your heating system. Schedule your annual maintenance to guarantee your heating unit is running efficiently and effectively. Nobody wants the heat to quit unexpectedly- especially when you’re entertaining a house full of guests. During a maintenance visit, a trained technician can inspect and tune-up your system.
Use a programmable thermostat. Remembering to adjust your thermostat day and night adds another task to your hectic schedule, and is often forgotten. A programmable thermostat simplifies the task of managing your home’s temperature. Schedule the thermostat to a lower temperature at night when everyone is sleeping, and then a few degrees higher to warm the house before people are waking up.
Practice sound space heater safety. Portable heating units can be dangerous if not used properly. Place space heaters on a level, flat surface, at least three feet away from decorations or any other flammable objects. Always turn them off everytime you leave the room. If you use a space heater because some rooms in your house are cooler than others, it might be indicative of a bigger heating issue. Contact a home comfort specialist to help address your heating and air-flow concerns.
Let the sunshine in. Take advantage of the sun’s free heat. On a sunny day, open the blinds or curtains and allow the sun rays to enter your home. The warm extra boost from the sun helps alleviate your heating system from overworking; saving you on energy costs.
Keep your registers and vents clear. Make sure curtains, furniture, and holiday decor aren’t blocking your heating registers. Any restrictions in air supply can cause your furnace or heat pump to work harder to compensate for the imbalance.
Plan your water usage. If you have a traditional tank water heater and a house full of guests, plan ahead. Space out showers to avoid running out of hot water. Run the dishwasher at night when water demand is low. Use cold water to launder clothes. If you find your tank heater can’t keep up, consider switching to a tankless water heater, where water is heated on-demand, providing all the hot water your household needs without wasting energy to heat full tanks of water.
HOME HEATING SYSTEM INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR IN NH AND MA
Contact the service pros at Main Stream Mechanical to schedule a home heating system checkup. We provide heating system installation, maintenance, and repair in Haverhill, Amesbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Topsfield, Boxford, and other locations across Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.
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