With the colder weather settling in, the last thing you should have anxiety over is sustaining a comfortable home. Preferably, you would be spending the winter enjoying the comfort of your home and not thinking twice about what’s taking place outside. Of course, it typically doesn’t happen that way, and there are a few issues that could be taking place in your home that could end up with you scheduling furnace repair or trying to figure out why your bill is so high.
There are a variety of causes for higher utility bills, but these are three of the more common ones we typically hear about at.
- Heat is getting out through the glass of your windows – when hot air comes in to contact with cold glass on your windows, it impacts the indoor air by reducing some of the heat. An option to help minimize that impact is to make sure that you close your drapes during the evening hours and only opening drapes on windows receiving light during the day.
- Lack of attic insulation – if your home is older, there’s a possibility that it doesn’t have enough insulation. This means you could be losing heat through your attic, which forces your furnace to work harder to keep up, and might eventually lead to the need for a furnace repair. It’s not hard to determine if you have enough insulation, take a look and see if the insulation is below or even with the joists. When the insulation is even or below the joists, you’ll likely want to add some more insulation.
- Gaps in windows and doors – it’s not always easy to tell by just taking a quick look if there are large gaps. Be sure to thoroughly look at all of your windows and doors to determine whether it requires weather stripping to take care of those gaps. As we mentioned with attic insulation, window and door gaps can require your heating system to work harder, increasing the chance of furnace repair down the line.
These are just a few tips to help you determine any potential problem areas in your house that could cause heat loss. If you have any questions about furnaces, furnace repair or other ways to combat heat-loss, give us a call at 360-255-5857.