Avoid These Bad Furnace Habits Or Face The Costly Consequences!

Your furnace is a lifesaver. But it can also be a money pit if you’re not careful!

Our Northern Ontario winters are not something you can shy away from. And facing them with sufficient heat is imperative. But after last year’s skyrocketing fuel costs, finding affordable Sudbury heating is a must.

Are you looking for ways to make your home heating bill more affordable in 2022? Keep reading!

In this article, Campeau Heating uncovers all sorts of bad furnace habits that homeowners typically adopt.

And you have two choices:

1. Learn how to avoid these bad habits.
2. Face the costly consequences!

7 Bad Furnace Habits That Are Raising Your Sudbury Heating Bills

There are many ways to keep your home heating more affordable, regardless of high fuel costs. It just involves breaking some bad habits!

We’ve listed some of these bad habits below. Which ones have you unknowingly adopted over the years?

1. Forgetting to schedule preventative maintenance.

Your furnace should never have to fend for itself. It needs regular care and upkeep to ensure things run smoothly and efficiently. Without any hiccups along the way!

Otherwise, what may begin as a simple repair or cleaning, could escalate into something much more costly.

We recommend booking your maintenance appointment before turning your furnace on for the season.

During this visit, our HVAC techs inspect, clean, repair and optimize your furnace equipment. We ensure it’s in prime condition before the start of the cold season so you can enjoy the comforts of your home in peace!

Scheduling an annual preventative maintenance appointment ensures:

• High Performance
• Peak Efficiency
• Reliable Operation
• Longer Life Expectancy
• Complete Home Safety and Comfort
• Improved Air Quality
• Lower Energy Costs

Your heating company might even require these annual tune-ups to keep your furnace warranty valid.

Schedule your furnace maintenance appointment with our team at Campeau! 

2. Neglecting your furnace filter.

How often do you change your furnace filter? Be honest!

Most homeowners actually forget their furnace filter exists. After all, it is neatly tucked away in the furnace unit itself. So we understand how easy it is to forget that it isn’t a fixed component of your heating system.

However, neglecting your furnace filter has many consequences that aren't so easy to ignore.

What happens if you don’t change your furnace filter regularly?

• You may experience more dust accumulation in your home.
• Your furnace could short cycle - causing it to overheat every time it turns on.
• Your furnace will need to work harder to heat your home.
• Your indoor air quality may suffer.
• Your furnace may provide uneven heating - leaving cold spots in certain rooms.
• Your furnace equipment could malfunction or even fail entirely.

It may seem like an inconsequential component, but a simple furnace filter swap is extremely valuable. Especially if you’re looking to lower your energy costs and improve your furnace performance.

So, how often should you change your filter?

Every heating company may have a different answer to this question. But the general rule of thumb is to change your furnace filter every 90 days. Personally, our Campeau Heating techs recommend more frequent changes if you have allergies, pets or a large family.

And our advice is to always ensure you care for your furnace filter as best you can. We promise it will pay off in the end - in more ways than one!

3. Setting your thermostat temperature too high.

How high do you set your thermostat?

Up North, homeowners battle frigid temperatures daily - all winter long. But keeping your home cozy and warm doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune on heating!

You could actually be overestimating how much heat your home actually needs.

At Campeau Heating, we’re all about home comfort. But we’re also in the business of keeping your heating bills as low as possible.

So while we do recommend keeping your home at a comfortable temperature, we also suggest ensuring that it’s the LOWEST comfortable temperature possible.

Did you know that you can save up to 10% of your heating costs in a year just by keeping your thermostat 7-10 degrees cooler than you typically would?

If you’re home during the day and it’s not sunny outside, keeping your furnace on high is a must. But if you’re at work all day anyhow, lowering your thermostat can keep your home heating both comfortable and affordable.

4. Constantly adjusting your thermostat.

Now, while we did suggest adjusting your thermostat throughout the day, there’s a particular way to do that. One that doesn’t involve manually setting and resetting it every few hours.

This can overwhelm your system and cause it to work harder than it has to.

Instead, invest in a programmable thermostat!

These thermostats adjust accordingly to your heating preferences. And all you have to do is give it a schedule to stick to!

5. Ignoring your ductwork.

Your ductwork is another component, like your furnace filter, that typically goes unnoticed. But now that you know the effects of ignoring your filter, you can probably guess what happens if you neglect your ductwork too.

Your ductwork is the lungs of your home. But what happens if that airway becomes clogged or cracked?

Your furnace has to work extra hard to push air through it - raising your energy bills and lowering your indoor air quality.

That’s why we recommend cleaning and inspecting your ductwork at the first sign of trouble.

Ductwork Warning Signs:

• Weird noises and smells
• Cold spots
• High energy bills
• Dust and dirt buildup
• Poor airflow
• Increased allergy symptoms

6. Closing or blocking vents.

The size of your furnace is not random. Your heating company always calculates the size of your home before selecting your furnace. This ensures the unit has enough power to heat your home without overworking.

However, when you close or block vents or registers, it confuses your furnace.

The result?

A properly sized furnace acting as if it’s the wrong size!

This causes heating inefficiencies and lowers the system’s overall heating performance.

To ensure this doesn’t happen, always make sure your vents and registers are open and unobstructed.

Don’t bother closing vents to rooms you never use - as this could drastically affect your heating bill. And always remember their location when reorganizing furniture, storage and other household items. Placing a couch over a vent never helped anyone lower their energy bills!

7. Failing to seal air leaks in your home.

The last bad habit in this article is failing to seal air leaks throughout your home.

Did you know that up to 20% of your heat can escape through tiny cracks and loose seals in your house? That’s a lot of wasted heat!

To avoid losing all that heat, start looking for cracks and loose seals in your:

• Windows
• Door frames
• Electrical outlets
• Vents
• Bricks
• Attic doors
• Baseboards
• Siding

Get Affordable Sudbury Heating With Campeau!

Finding new ways to make your home heating bill more affordable doesn’t have to be stressful. You can lower your energy bills and increase your home comfort with a few new habits!

Is your furnace past the point of no repair? Give us a call! You can reach our office at (705) 560-2441 or schedule an appointment online!