Keep Your Bills Low and the Warm Air inside Your Maine Home with These Five Tips

Winter is in full swing here in Central Maine, and your heating system is no doubt hard at work keeping your family warm and comfortable.

Want to give it a helping hand? Try these five tips to keep the warm air in – and your bills as low as possible – in the winter and early spring weeks to come.

1. Maintain sensible temperatures – While lowering your thermostat when your family is out of the house or sleeping is usually a great way to improve efficiency, it’s not the best strategy to take when the mercury really dips; your heating equipment may not be able to restore comfortable temps once it turns back on.
2. Free your baseboards and vents – Be sure not to block your vents or baseboards with heavy curtains, furniture; keep them clear to keep that warm air circulating.
3. Reduce air leaks – Did you know that the average American home leaks the equivalent of a four square foot window’s worth of air from leaks around windows and doors? Keep the cold air out and the warm air in with inexpensive weatherization measures like door sweeps, plastic window covers, caulk and weatherstripping – they can really make a difference.
4. Add insulation – Most homes – especially older ones – aren’t insulated to the R-Value recommended by the U.S. Department of Energy. Insulation also deteriorates over the years, so you may have even less protection from the cold than you think. Adding more or better insulation – especially in your attic and crawl spaces – is one of the most cost-effective ways to keep the warm air in.
5. Maintain your heating equipment – The average heating system loses an average of five percent efficiency each year due to normal wear and tear on the equipment; you can slow or even stop that efficiency loss by getting routine maintenance on your heating equipment every year. Preventive care also pays for itself by catching small problems early, which can reduce heating system repairs and add years to the life of your heating equipment.

Think it’s too late for heating system maintenance? Think again! With temperatures in our service area dipping into the mid-40s well into May, you will be relying on your furnace or boiler for a while longer. Why not prevent late-heating season problems with a service call from the pros at Murray-Heutz? Contact us today to sign up for a Murray-Heutz service plan for your propane- or heating oil-fired heating system, or to schedule maintenance for your heating equipment.