The Most Common Energy Saving Facts and Myths.

We are becoming more conscious consumers when it comes to money and energy savings. We don’t want out comfort to be at the expense of saving money though. Everywhere you turn has a new “tip” on how to save on everything. Not all advice is sound though, you have to be careful on what advice you follow. Here are some facts and fiction on common energy saving advice. The first one we will go over is ceiling vans cool the home. Fiction, ceiling fans remove heat from your body which makes you feel cooler. It does not change the temperature of an empty room. A ceiling fan running in an empty room is useless. Next you hear that a fireplace in the home reduces your homes heating load. This is not true. You need to have a damper open when using a fireplace and a lot of heat escapes through there. The fireplace will not add much heat to your home at all. You are better off sealing any drafts in your home to keep cold air out and conditioned air in.  Another thing you tend to hear is that closing registers in unused rooms will cause your HVAC system to not have to work as hard. Actually closing the registers to the unused rooms will add more pressure to your HVAC system which will add unnecessary wear and tear to it. If you want to have better control of rooms you should get a zoning system for your home. The next myth is that you don’t need to unplug your electronics when they are off. Even if the electronics are off but still plugged in they are still using energy. Unplugging your electronics is the best way to save energy. Another myth we hear a lot is turning the heat way up at first will warm your home faster. This is not true and will only make your furnace work harder and waste energy. The same goes in the spring for turning the temperature way down to cool your home faster. A programmable thermostat can be set to keep lower temps during the day when the home is empty and programmed to your preferred temperature right before your arrival. Programmable thermostats save you a lot of hassle and money. You may have heard that turning lights on and off wastes more energy. This is absolutely false. Leaving lights on that you aren’t using is a waste of energy so turning them off when not in use is best. These were some easy and helpful tips to help you save energy. Bartlett Heating and Air can solve all your HVAC needs so call us today!