Heating  & Cooling Tips

• Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable.

• Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed.

• Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes.

• Bleed trapped air from hot-water radiators once or twice a season; if in doubt about how to perform this task, call a professional.

• Place heat-resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators.

• Use kitchen, bath, and other ventilating fans wisely; in just 1 hour, these fans can pull out a houseful of warmed or cooled air. Turn fans off as soon as they have done the job.

• Keep draperies and shades open on south-facing windows during the heating season to allow sunlight to enter your home; close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.

• Close an unoccupied room that is isolated from the rest of the house, such as in a corner, and turn down the thermostat or turn off the heating for that room or zone. However, do not turn the heating off if it adversely affects the rest of your system. For example, if you heat your house with a heat pump, do not close the vents – closing the vents could harm the heat pump.

• Select energy-efficient equipment when you buy new heating equipment. Your contractor should be able to give you energy fact sheets for different types, models, and designs to help you compare energy usage. Look for the ENERGY STAR® label. The ENERGY STAR® is a program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed to help consumers identify energy-efficient appliances and products.

 Windows:

Cold-Climate Window Tips

• Install exterior or interior storm windows; storm windows can reduce your heat loss through the windows by 25% to 50%. Storm windows should have weatherstripping at all moveable joints; be made of strong, durable materials; and have interlocking or overlapping joints. Low-e storm windows save even more energy.

• Repair and weatherize your current storm windows, if necessary.

• Install tight-fitting, insulating window shades on windows that feel drafty after weatherizing.

• Close your curtains and shades at night; open them during the day.

• Keep windows on the south side of your house clean to maximize solar gain

Warm-Climate Window Tips

• Install white window shades, drapes, or blinds to reflect heat away from the house.

• Close curtains on south- and west-facing windows.

• Install awnings on south- and west-facing windows.

• Apply sun-control or other reflective films on south-facing windows to reduce solar gain.

Lightening

Indoor Lighting Tips

• Turn off the lights in any room you're not using, or consider installing timers, photo cells, or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on.

• Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it. For example, use fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops under cabinets.

• Consider three-way lamps; they make it easier to keep lighting levels low when brighter light is not necessary.

• Use 4-foot fluorescent fixtures with reflective backing and electronic ballasts for your workroom, garage, and laundry areas.

• Consider using 4-watt mini-fluorescent or electro-luminescent night lights. Both lights are much more efficient than their incandescent counterparts. The luminescent lights are cool to the touch.

Outdoor Lighting Tips

• Use outdoor lights with a photocell unit or a timer so they will turn off during the day.

• Turn off decorative outdoor gas lamps; just eight gas lamps burning year round use as much natural gas as it takes to heat an average-size home during an entire winter.

• Exterior lighting is one of the best places to use CFLs because of their long life. If you live in a cold climate, be sure to buy a lamp with a cold-weather ballast.

Insulation Tips

Insulation Tips

• Consider factors such as your climate, building design, and budget when selecting insulation R-value for your home.

• Use higher density insulation, such as rigid foam boards, in cathedral ceilings and on exterior walls.

• Ventilation plays a large role in providing moisture control and reducing summer cooling bills. Install attic vents to help make sure that there is one inch of ventilation space between the insulation and roof shingles. Attic vents can be installed along the entire ceiling cavity to help ensure proper airflow from the soffit to the attic, helping to make a home more comfortable and energy efficient.

• Do not block vents with insulation, and keep insulation at least 3 inches away from recessed lighting fixtures or other heat-producing equipment unless it is marked "I.C." – designed for direct insulation contact.

• As specified on the product packaging, follow the product instructions on installation and wear the proper protective gear when installing insulation.

The easiest and most cost-effective way to insulate your home is to add insulation in the attic. To find out if you have enough attic insulation, measure the thickness of insulation. If there is less than R-19 (6 inches of fiber glass or rock wool or 5 inches of cellulose) you could probably benefit by adding more. Most U.S. homes should have between R-19 and R-49 insulation in the attic.

If your attic has ample insulation and your home still feels drafty and cold in the winter or too warm in the summer, chances are you need to add insulation to the exterior walls as well. This is a more expensive measure that usually requires a contractor, but it may be worth the cost if you live in a very hot or cold climate.