Dayton’s warm summers and frosty winters mean you already spend enough trying to stay comfortable. If you want to keep your costs down, don’t let widespread energy myths fool you.
Myth: Keeping your home a constant temperature saves energy.
Fact: Cooling or heating your home all day takes much more energy than restoring a hot or cold house to a comfortable temperature when you get in. To make saving easy, invest in a programmable thermostat and choose energy-efficient temperatures for the times when you’re out or home in bed.
Myth: It’s better to leave the lights on than turn them on and off.
Fact: If you leave the room for more than a minute, it’s more efficient to turn off the lights, ceiling fan, and other small appliances. Likewise, to save energy, power down your computer for the night rather than leaving it in sleep mode.
Myth: Closing air registers in unused rooms saves energy.
Fact: Like many energy myths, this one sounds logical. In reality, all this strategy does is push air back into the ducts and create a pressure imbalance that can damage your system’s components. Your system doesn’t actually use any less energy. If you want more control over the temperatures in separate areas of your home, consider having a zoning system installed.
Myth: Choosing a high thermostat setting heats the house faster.
Fact: Your system can only produce so much warm or cool air at a time and the thermostat setting has no effect on this. If you want your home to be a certain temperature when you arrive, a programmable thermostat is the efficient solution.
Myth: Energy-Star qualified HVAC equipment is always more efficient than non-qualified models.
Fact: This is one of the most believable energy myths out there, but it’s just not true. To reach its maximum efficiency potential, your air conditioner, furnace or heat pump must be sized and installed correctly. Problems with the refrigerant charge, air evacuation or refrigerant line brazing impair your system’s efficiency. This is why it’s critical to choose an experienced installation technician.
For more ways to save energy in your Dayton area home’s, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
