Tips for your Heating System

The arrival of cooler temperatures forces many of us to do something we haven’t thought about in months: fire up our furnaces.  That first flip of the thermostat to ‘heat’ reminds us of the cold winter months to come– and spikes in our utility bills. In many parts of the U.S., heating accounts for the lion’s share of our total energy costs.

Any improvements made to your home’s heating system will yield significant dividends. The first step should be to ensure that your house is properly insulated and free from air leaks.  Volume 3 of the Greener Home Tips focused on air sealing and insulation.  This volume will focus on heating equipment, distribution systems and controls.   

You can improve the efficiency of your heating equipment through regular maintenance, or by replacing the unit.

Maintenance

Dirt and neglect are the #1 cause of heating and cooling system failure.  Basic maintenance of your heating equipment can save energy.  Contractors get busy during winter months, so it’s best to check the heating system in the fall

Furnaces

  • Change the furnace filter to ensure proper air flow.  During the cold months, you should replace the filter every month.  
  • Avoid permanent air filters or washable electrostatic filters.  They can reduce your furnace’s efficiency by hindering air movement.  Clean the furnace blower fan blades.  Accumulated dirt and grime hinders air fl
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  • Gas and propane furnaces should be cleaned and tuned every two to three years. A professional tune-up should include cleaning the burner and heat exchanger; checking air and fuel flow adjustment and diagnostic testing of draft pressure and carbon monoxide leakage.
  • Oil furnaces should have annual tune-ups, and require more cleaning, adjustment, parts replacement and combustion efficiency testing. A competent professional to service your oil furnace is critical.


Heat Pumps

  • Change the heat pump filter to ensure proper air flow.  During the cold months, you should replace the filter every month.  
  • Avoid permanent air filters or washable electrostatic filters.  They can reduce your furnace’s efficiency by hindering air movement.  
  • Heat pumps can be serviced every two to three years, and should include testing the controls, cleaning the blower and the coils (both indoors and outdoors), and correcting any deficiency in the refrigerant charge.


Air Supply Registers

  • Make sure the supply registers in all rooms are clean and free from obstruction.  We’ve seen more than a few homes that have supply registers blocked by a piece of furniture or carpet
  • Are the supply registers open?  Sounds simple, but we’ve had homeowners complain of a room always being cold - only to find that a supply register was closed.  
  • Make sure the supply registers are properly sealed to the underlying duct.  Gaps can cause leakage of conditioned air.


Boilers

  • Unlike furnaces and heat pumps which heat air, boilers heat water that is pumped through pipes to radiators or baseboard fin-tube convectors.  
  • Boilers should be serviced once per year if they are oil-fueled, while gas-fueled boilers can be serviced every two to three years. Boilers do not have the blower fans that furnaces have, so you don’t need to worry about cleaning the fan blades.
  • Does the radiator make noises?  The heat from boilers is distributed throughout the house by radiators or baseboard fin-tube convectors.  If you hear swishing or gurgling sounds coming from the radiator, it’s likely that air is trapped in the system, which reduces the system’s efficiency.  Call a service technician to bleed out the air.  
  • Make sure the technician checks the hydronic system pressure and expansion tank for leaks.  You may need to have the bleed valves replaced.

 
Replacement

According to the EPA, One in four furnaces in U.S. homes today is more than 20 years old.  If you heating equipment is more than 10 years old or is not keeping your house warm, it may be a good candidate for replacement with a high-efficiency system

  • Replacement will be easier if you stay with the same fuel (gas, propane, oil,) and heat distribution as your old system.
  • When shopping for your replacement system, compare energy efficiency ratings and choose the highest rating you can afford
  • Fuel-fired furnaces and boilers are rated according to Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE).  The AFUE’s for furnaces range from 76% to 96%; boilers range from 80% to 87%.  Air-source heat pumps rated by Heating System Performance Factor (HSPF) and ground-source heat pumps are rated by Coefficient of Performance (COP).  
  • For combustion furnaces and boilers, ask for 90%+ AFUE units that are closed combustion, direct vent models.  These will eliminate the potential for flame roll-out and carbon monoxide leakage associated with standard combustion furnaces.
  • The ENERGY STAR website maintains a list of high-efficiency heating equipment: www.energystar.gov/products.  Always look for the ENERGY STAR label for replacement units.
  • There is a good chance that your old equipment was too large for your house.  In the past, the maxim among HVAC contractors was ‘bigger is better’.  To determine the right size system for your home, the equipment should be sized according to ACCA/ANSI Manual J calculations.  
  • When interviewing HVAC contractors (get bids from at least three contractors), insist that they size their proposed equipment according to ACCA/ANSI Load Calculations.  Many contractors claim they don’t need to do the calculations, stating that their many years in business enable them to determine the right size just by walking around the house.  If they won’t or can’t do ACCA/ANSI Load Calculations, look for another contractor.
  • A good bid will include estimated annual energy cost savings and return on investment. Pay more attention to experience, reputation, quality, energy savings and customer references than to the lowest price.  


For more tips on making your home a 'brighter' shade of green, please visit our website www.thegreenhometeam.com
 
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