With cold weather is coming to Southern California, Los Angeles homeowners blasting up their heaters while searching for opportunities to save on their heating bill. There is plenty of information on saving money on your utilities bill, but most of the information is combination of hopeful thinking and bad science. Below are the five common heating myths:
Myth 1: It’s less expensive to use a few portable heaters in separate rooms than to use central gas heater.
Trying to save on their utility bill some people turn off their central heating and use a few portable heaters to keep highly used room in their homes warm. Less space to heat means less energy used, correct? Could be so, if electricity was not a lot more expensive than gas used in central heating systems. It costs 3-5 times more to heat same area with electrical portable heater than to heat same area with gas furnace, meaning that you may be spending same amount of money to heat a couple rooms as you would to heat the whole house.
Myth 2: Turning your furnace thermostat all the way on will warm up your house faster.
Homeowners will turn up their heating thermostats, hoping that the house will warm up quicker. However, your heater will not pump up more air if you put he temperature on high, it just works longer. Homeowners will often forget about their heater until the temperature in the house is sizzling hot, which in the end will cost more money, and no gain.
Myth 3: If you replace your old windows with new energy efficient window you can save a lot on energy costs.
The idea is pretty clear: old windows allow heat escape through the cracks. Unfortunately, homeowners exaggerate the amount of money they will save by replacing the windows. New windows cost significant amount f money to replace, while there are less expensive ways to make your house more energy efficient like insulating around electrical outlets, plumbing piping, ducting, and installing weather strips to exterior doors. Such improvements will only cost you a small part of a cost. As small and seemingly insignificant as they appear, these small leaks do add up.
Myth 4: Ceiling fans are only for summertime.
Ceiling fans feel great in the hot scorching Los Angeles summers, but they can also help you make your home more energy efficient in the fall. Turn on the fan switch to spin it in clockwise direction and the warm air that has raised to the ceiling will be forced down, warming up your home without using additional furnace output.
Myth #5: If you replace your hot water tank with Energy Star efficient model, you will significantly decrease your energy consumption.
Energy Star promise of big savings causes many home owners to dump perfectly operating appliances hoping that replacing it will lower their utility bill. Even though Energy Efficient appliances are more cost efficient, the size and the setting is more important than energy efficiency rating. You water heater, for example, is responsible for about 18% of your utility bill. You will notice some savings on your energy bill by lowering your water heater temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. So before you go out to purchase a new appliances to save on energy, check the settings on your current one.
Knowledge is power, so we hope you can use the knowledge you received from this article and really save money on your heating bill this winter.
