Fall—especially mid-fall—is often a comfortable time of the year in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, when we don’t experience quite as much humidity and we aren’t using as much heating and cooling to stay comfortable indoors. This is the perfect time to make a set of energy-saving  improvements to your home. Here are a few ways to get started this fall.

Get Your HVAC Tune-Up Scheduled 

Now and through October is an ideal time of year to get your tune-up. There is no substitute for a professional tune-up of your equipment! You can have the heating equipment tuned up in the fall and your AC equipment in the spring. A proper tune up included cleaning of the internal components, lubricating the system, checking the refrigerant level and inspection of all the working parts (1). It also includes:

• Checking induced draft motor amp draw
• Cleaning your flame rod (if applicable)
• Checking heat exchanger
• Inspecting flue and fresh air make–up
• Examining the electric resistance heating elements
• Disconnects & wiring
• Tightening all electrical connections
• Verifying proper thermostat operation & program
• Other safety checks and more!

Install a Programmable Thermostat

This upgrade will be one of your biggest cost-savers in the long term. What’s the immediate benefit of a programmable thermostat? First, it automatically changes the temperature throughout the day once you preset it. Lots of us like different temperatures for sleeping than while we’re awake or while we are out of the house during the day; lots of us also forget to change the temperature on the non-programmable thermostats, so this solves that problem.

Remember that if the house is empty during parts of the day while your family is at work and/or school, the savings can be much bigger. According to the Department of Energy, a programmable thermostat can save you about $180 a year if you properly employ the pre-programmed settings (2).

Seal Your Heating and Cooling Ducts

Our air ducts can be losing energy, and sometimes we are unaware of this because they can be “out of site”—whether that be in the basement, your crawlspace, attic or in other places. If you do have air duct leakage, you can have a loss of energy in your system; you want to seal your heating and cooling ducts so that you optimize efficiency, reduce air leakage, and you better control pollutants coming into your home.

To do so, generally your steps are as follows: seal the joints between the duct sections with duct sealant tape or other metal-backed tape. Next, wrap the ducts with insulation, especially if the temperature outside the ducts is often very different from the temperature of the air moving through the ducts (2).

Change Your Air Filters

Have you changed your air filter recently? It’s one of the most effective ways to maintain our system for longevity and to cut down our monthly bills each month. Remember how changing out your air filter helps your system avoid having to work harder—which translates to wasted energy, too. At minimum, change your air filter every 3 months. In many homes, it’s necessary to do so more often, such as once a month. Ask us for help if you need to.

Get Your System Tune-Up Scheduled with GC Home Services 

Make sure your system is performing as efficiently and effectively as possible in the coming weeks: if you haven’t already, call us at 859-491-4915 to to get your AC tune-up scheduled! Regular maintenance helps ensure your system can handle the heat.

GC Home Services Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. is your local heating and air conditioning company based in Newport, Kentucky. Our furnace and air conditioning experts proudly serve all of Northern Kentucky, Greater Cincinnati and Southeastern Indiana. With over 60 years of experience, our highly trained technicians bring our special brand of expertise and customer service to every job we perform.

References/Sources

1. https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=heat_cool.pr_maintenance
2. https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=heat_cool.pr_hvac