Having your home warm during the Erie winters is vital to your health and comfort. While you may not be able to completely ignore the decreasing temperature outside, there are methods that your comfort can be attained effortlessly and without worrying about cold drafts. With annually scheduled furnace service, you can help keep all the heat from your furnace in your home and cut back on your monthly energy bills. It’s valuable to know all the ways in which heat (and your winter comfort) can escape from your home, so here are some of the more common forms we hear about at Patterson & Stirling Inc:
- Lack of attic insulation – the older the home, the more outdated the insulation could be. Older insulation can fade faster and cause those seepages of heat, which could then mean that your furnace is operating harder than it needs to. Inspecting your insulation in your attic to see if it is installed accurately can indicate if you need more insulation and dodge potential future furnace repair.
- Window or door gaps – gaps or holes aren’t always obvious to the naked eye or big enough to feel cold drafts through, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t present. Weatherstripping can be an easy fix and can do the same thing as increasing attic insulation – allowing your furnace to not work as hard and reducing the probability of needing furnace repair.
- Losing heat from the glass of your windows – hot air and cold glass are a curious mix. The hot air loses some of its heat when it extends to a cold surface and gives off the feeling of “heat escaping” from the home. Sealing window drapes during the evening hours and pulling back drapes during sunny, daylight hours in the winter can help decrease this heat loss.
While these might not be the only reasons why your home is wasting heat, there is a good probability that one of these circumstances could be your reality. But lucky for you, our professionals at Patterson & Stirling Inc are here to provide you with more tips to keep your home warm and comfortable all winter-long. If you have any more questions about heat, furnace repair or to schedule your regular furnace maintenance, give us a call at 814-308-0416.