Tips to Avoid a Service Call

Before winter arrives, have an energy leak inspection done at your house to see where heat is disappearing.

You can’t fix what you don’t know about. By checking windows, doors, fireplaces and other areas that might feel drafty, you can keep your home more comfortable at a lower setting and save on energy costs. Use caulk, weather-stripping and spot insulation to close up leaks.

Have your furnace, heat pump or propane heating system inspected and serviced before the sub-freezing weather arrives.

Extreme cold puts an added strain on heating systems that can cause a breakdown just when you need the heat the most. A preventive service or maintenance program will be much cheaper than major repairs or replacements that are needed when a system stops functioning.

Try to use your bathroom and kitchen fans less this winter.

These fans pull the heated air out of the house. In many cases they can pull all the heated air out of the house in just an hour, causing your heating system to work overtime to pump more heated air back in. That can significantly add to your heating costs.

An instant hot water system can make winter more comfortable, especially if you are having houseguests during the holiday season.

These systems can save you up to 16,000 gallons of water a year, per average household and they use less energy than a 25-watt bulb. Plus they can be installed in just an hour and can retrofit to your water heater.

Install a carbon monoxide detector on each floor of your home.

With heating systems running and doors and windows closed, there is a much higher potential of a carbon monoxide leak during winter months. Because carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, you may not be aware of the potential danger. If a leak starts in the basement, but you only have a detector on the main floor, by the time the detector is triggered you will already have dangerous fumes in your home.

On sunny days during cool and cold weather, keep your blinds and drapes open where you have windows that get direct sun.

Even in winter, the sun heats the glass and provides radiant heat into your home, which helps your furnace to run less during the day, saving money on your home heating bills.

To avoid bathroom clogs, be sure each bathroom has a wastebasket and encourage family members to put all debris in the wastebasket. This is especially important when cleaning hairbrushes.

Hair should never be washed down the drain. It is one of the most frequent causes of bathroom clogs.

If you have a snow blower, move it outdoors before you start it.

Snow blowers give off noxious fumes when started. The fumes contain carbon monoxide that can permeate the air in your home, causing dizziness or nausea.