As the thermometer outside drops, the need to crank the heat indoors grows. Everyone wants the comfort of the heat, but without the high energy bills that accompany that luxury. Many homeowners rely on heating myths to try to cut the costs associated with turning up their furnace, but many of these are just that – myths. Getzschman Heating & Cooling busts a few heating myths that you should be aware of this season.

Myth: Crank the Thermostat Up to Heat Your Home More Quickly

This trick really isn’t a trick at all. Cranking the heat up to try and warm your home more quickly doesn’t actually work. Heating systems deliver air at the same constant rate no matter how high the heat is set. So, your home will still take just as long to heat up, but your furnace will have to work much harder to reach such a high temperature. In the end this method will actually end up costing you more on your monthly energy bills.

Myth: Ceiling Fans Are Only for Summer

Ceiling fans aren’t just for cooling. They can actually make your home more energy efficient by distributing the warm air in your home better. All you have to do to make this work is switch the fan to make it spin clockwise. This will force warm air that accumulates near the top of the room down towards the living quarters. Your home will feel warmer without increasing your furnace’s output.

Myth: Save Money by Turning off Your furnace Completely When You’re Gone all Day

While this strategy may seem like a sound tactic, it’s actually best to keep your furnace running all day, and for two reasons. First of all, if your furnace has been off all day and you kick it on when you come home, it will have to work really hard to raise the temperature in your home back to a normal setting, thereby eating up a lot of energy and increasing your energy bills. Instead, use a programmable thermostat to set different programs throughout the day to accommodate your schedule. Set your thermostat 10-12 degrees cooler than you normally have it when you are gone all day. Secondly, turning off your furnace all day when the temperatures start dropping really low can put your water pipes at risk of bursting.

Keep your furnace running efficiently all heating season with a little help from the Omaha area furnace experts. The G-Force team has you covered when it comes to furnace tune-ups, furnace replacement, etc. Call us today at 402-235-6727.