Tips To Save On Heating Oil
A long winter often means higher heating bills, which can be a struggle to work into a balanced household budget. This is especially true if you have oil heat and find yourself going through more fuel than what you originally budgeted for. The following tips can help you keep the bills low.
Tip #1: Close off unused rooms
The more square footage you have to heat, the more oil your furnace will burn to do so. If you have rooms in the home that are seldom used, such as a spare bedroom or second sitting room, then closing them off can be the single easiest way to lower your fuel needs. Shut both the door and the heating registers in the room, or turn off the radiators, depending which applies to your heating system. Just make sure the doors stay shut; otherwise, your furnace will have to work harder than if the registers were open.
Tip #2: Manage fan usage
Ventilation fans in the bathroom and kitchen serve an important purpose in managing moisture in these rooms, but they also suck up the warm air as well as the damp when they are in use. Only turn these fans on when necessary, such as during a shower or while boiling a pot of water. Turn them off as soon as possible so that as little heat as possible is lost in the room during their operation.
Tip #3: Install a programmable thermostat
For a small investment, you can majorly cut down on your heating oil use. A programmable thermostat allows you to keep the home cooler when you are away during the day or at night while you are sleeping. You can program it so that the house is at a comfortable temperature in the mornings and evening when everyone is home and active, and then have it automatically lower when the extra warmth isn't needed. This results in less heating oil use and major savings.
Tip #4: Service the system
An oil furnace burns oil more efficiently with less waste when it is properly serviced. The oil burner itself should be cleaned and inspected once a year, typically in fall before the heating system is turned on. If you have radiators, these may need opened and bled once or twice annually to ensure there is no trapped steam and that they are operating at peak efficiency. A small investment in preventative maintenance can equal major savings on oil use throughout the heating season.
For more help, talk to a heating contractor or heating oil supplier in your area, or check out websites like https://www.cashoilco.com/ for more information.