Don’t let a cold room keep you from enjoying your home. No matter the cause, a room that is colder than the rest of the home can put limitations on your family, especially those who are susceptible to cold. Far too frequently, residents respond to a draft or cold room by cranking up their thermostats. But there are more effective ways to heat cold rooms than increasing the thermostat setting. Here are a few simple, home-heating methods to keep your living space warm throughout the coldest winter days and nights. If you need a heating repair, contact Gordon’s Heating & Air today to schedule heating services.
1. Use Your Heating System Correctly
Many homeowners rely on their furnaces and other heating systems to take the sting out of cold rooms. When operated correctly, a heater works to warm a home evenly, while keeping energy costs low and air quality high. Conversely, when homeowners call us to schedule heating services, the reason is often symptomatic of improper use of the system. By staying up-to-date on regularly scheduled professional maintenance and running the heat cycles with caution, you can help avoid system issues and keep warm while indoors.
Stay Up-To-Date On Maintenance
The majority of heating repairs occur within units that don’t receive proper heating maintenance. Invariably, clogged air filters, loose fan belts, dirty air ducts, and other common heating problems can be avoided by routine cleanings and inspections. At a minimum, heating and AC maintenance should be scheduled twice per year. It can be easy to forget about your heating and cooling system’s maintenance needs. Still, we make servicing your unit easy with our Blue Star Maintenance package, which includes two seasonal checks and a number of other members-only benefits. Contact us today to learn more and enroll.
Run Heat Cycles Wisely
It’s easy to operate a home heating system similar to a heater in a car, but this approach is wrong. In a vehicle, you turn the heater on and off when you enter and exit, but doing this in your home causes rooms to cool off, causing the system to function overtime when turned on to make up for the lost indoor heat. Instead of this wasteful practice, set the thermostat to its “auto” setting and adjust it to a few degrees lower than usual. This way, as the heater runs during the day, it’ll prevent rooms from feeling chilly while conserving electricity.
2. Harness Warmth From Natural Light
Solar panels power entire buildings using nothing more than natural light. There is a tremendous amount of energy in sunlight, and you can use this power to your advantage in the winter. From the moment you rise from bed until the last glimpse of the sunset fades into the distance, keep your window shades open. The more natural light you can coax into your home, the warmer it’ll become. You can also hang mirrors and reflective objects to catch and transmit the sunlight to deeper indoor spaces. By upgrading to thermal-lined curtains, you can also trap more heat inside at night. Insulated curtains also help prevent windows from cooling rooms.
3. Cover Hard Floors in Winter
While hardwood and decorative cement floors look attractive in the summer, these uninsulated floors can remove as much as 10 percent of the heat in a room. Even worse is when you unsuspectingly step on a cold floor with bare feet — Brrr! To avoid both heat loss and discomfort, cover large portions of hard floors with area rugs. The rugs act as insulation to keep the cold out and the heat in. They also provide a safe surface to walk on for people who eschew from wearing socks and slippers. Additionally, we can perform an energy audit to your property to identify the areas of heat loss and suggest ways to curb them, such as getting a furnace replacement.