There are many ways to save energy at home. You can make small adjustments to your daily habits that will lead to incremental savings over time, and you can also make larger updates to your home that will lead to instantaneous and sometimes dramatic savings. Today we’re going to focus on the latter by talking about six energy-efficient home improvements you can make that will significantly lower your monthly heating and cooling bills!
6 energy-efficient home improvements that will lower your heating and cooling bills
- Installing a programmable thermostat. This is one of the least expensive home improvements on this list, and it can go a long way in improving both comfort and efficiency levels in your home. By replacing a manual thermostat with a programmable model, you can put your energy savings on autopilot by programming various temperature settings for different times of the day. Your thermostat will automatically adjust itself to save energy during the hours that your home is empty, and it can heat or cool your home back up to the right temperature before even you get back.
- Adding ceiling fans. Ceiling fans provide energy savings all year long. During summer, they create a windchill effect that makes rooms feel cooler, allowing you to use a higher thermostat setting without feeling uncomfortable. During winter, you can run them in reverse to push warm air near the ceiling back down to the floor, allowing you to adjust your thermostat to a lower setting without feeling uncomfortable. Ceiling fans are only effective in the rooms that are occupied, so consider installing them in the rooms where your family spends the most time.
- Caulking and weatherstripping doors and windows. The areas around your doors and windows are highly susceptible to developing cracks and openings that allow outside air to get indoors and inside air to seep outside. This can lead to major efficiency issues in your home. Sealing up your windows and doors with caulk and weatherstripping will keep conditioned air indoors where it belongs and prevent outside air from infiltrating your home.
- Upgrading your air filtration system. Although the primary reason to upgrade your home’s air filtration system is to improve air quality, it also has the side benefit of making your heating and cooling system more efficient. A whole-house air cleaner can remove up to 99 percent of the contaminants in your home’s air, and it can do so without affecting your home’s airflow. This allows you to avoid major efficiency losses that are common with standard air filters or pleated filters that can quickly get dirty and block your system’s airflow.
- Installing a zoning system. A zoning system allows you to section your home into separate spaces that each have their own thermostat. You can use more comfortable thermostat settings for the spaces you spend the most time in, and you can save energy by using more efficient settings in spaces that are occupied less often. This allows you to make more efficient and targeted use of the energy that your furnace and air conditioner consume. A zoning system can be added to both new and existing heating and cooling systems.
- Upgrading your heating and cooling system. The most direct way to lower your heating and cooling bills is to install a new, high-efficiency system. By choosing a furnace with a high AFUE rating and an air conditioner with a high SEER rating, you can instantly see some huge savings on your monthly utility bills, especially if you’re replacing an old and inefficient system.
If you have any questions about energy-efficient home improvements, or if you’d like a heating and cooling system serviced or installed in your home, contact Jerry Kelly Heating, Air Conditioning & Electrical, your St. Louis furnace and air conditioning contractor. We provide service all over the St. Louis area, including towns like Weldon Spring, Wentzville, and Winghaven, MO.
