Heating and cooling consumer tips
Heating and cooling your home uses more energy and more of your energy budget than any other system in your home. Typically, 48 per cent of an average utility bill goes towards heating and cooling the air and water in Canadian home.
Making informed decisions about your home's heating, ventilation, water heating, and air conditioning systems can have a big effect on your utility bills and the environment. In this section, we will provide you with information and tips for making your heating and cooling systems more efficient.
This section covers tips for the following sections:
Water heating
Set the thermostat in a range between 43 and 48 degrees Celsius. This will heat the water for your home to a comfortable temperature without using excess energy to heat it any more than necessary.
Another way to conserve energy is to insulate your water heater. Wrap the heater in an insulating blanket and keep insulation 46 cm (18 inches) from the top. This will keep the heat energy that the system has already produced from escaping from the water heater.
As part of your regular maintenance schedule, drain a small amount of water from your hot water tank every six months, or as recommended by the manufacturer. This will remove sediment, which can build up in your tank and prevent heat transfer and lower the unit’s efficiency.
- To conserve energy, take a shower instead of a bath. A typical bath uses approximately 75 litres of hot water. A five-minute shower with an efficient showerhead will use about half that amount.
- If you already choose to shower instead of bathing, cutting shower times in half or installing low- flow shower heads can reduce water heating costs by one-third. Even reducing shower duration by just a few minutes can save hundreds of gallons of hot water per month for a family of four.
- Make sure that your home system does not have any water leaks. A dripping hot water faucet can waste approximately 800 litres of water per month. That not only increases water bills, but also increases the gas or electric bill for heating the water.
- Turn off your water heater when you are going to be away from home for more than two weeks.
Space heating
The first step in improving space heating efficiency is to trap the heat already produced by sealing leaks and improving insulation. New products in this field include expanding foam which seals larger leaks and vacuum insulation panels which can increase energy efficiency up to tenfold compared to traditional insulation materials.
Consider having an energy audit to find out how much energy is used in your house, how it is used, how much is lost or wasted and how to improve the household's energy efficiency. Natural Resources Canada provides lists of licensed advisors across Canada.
Condensing gas furnaces capture additional heat from flue gases before they are exhausted to more efficiently heat buildings and virtually eliminate the need for chimneys.
- Purchasing a programmable thermostat can help lower your energy consumption. Install a programmable thermostat on your furnace to automatically adjust the temperature setting. Lower it at night and when you go to work. For every degree you lower the thermostat, you can save approximately three per cent on heating costs.
- When purchasing a new water heating system, there are options that can help reduce your energy consumption. Consider buying either an air source heat pump or a high efficiency furnace for your home. Both of these options will use less energy to heat your home. Ground or geothermal heat pumps are the most efficient options.
- Cleaning and servicing the household heating system, including ducts and insulation, will allow the furnace or heat pump to work more efficiently.
- Before each heating season, have your furnace serviced by a qualified technician. Keeping your filters and ducts clean and free of dirt and debris will help your furnace run more efficiently, resulting in cost-savings on your energy bill. An annual tune-up could save you three to 10 per cent in heating costs each month.
- Check your furnace filter each month and replace or clean it when required to reduce heating costs and improve furnace efficiency.
- If your renovation project will increase the size of your home, do not forget to have your furnace and air conditioning re-assessed to ensure your systems can meet the needs of your bigger space.
- Clean out your ducts. Duct cleaning should be done every three to five years. If you have smokers or pets in the home, consider every three years. Also, if you are doing home renovations, having your ducts cleaned after a renovation project will go a long way toward keeping your home’s heating and cooling systems working efficiently.
- Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes.
- Bleed trapped air from hot-water radiators once or twice a season; if in doubt about how to perform this task, call a professional.
- Ensure your home is properly insulated. While most homeowners relate insulation to heating bills and winter, a properly insulated home will also keep the temperature in your home regulated in the warmer months by reducing the amount of hot air build-up during heat spells.
- Foam insulation for attics or floors effectively covers cracks and seals drafts to keep your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
- Check your windows and doors. Up to 30 per cent of the cooling in your home can be lost through poorly fitted windows and doors. Caulking around windows that do not open and weather stripping around windows that do is an inexpensive way to help save money. You may also want to consider upgrading your windows – there are many types and styles of energy efficient windows available that will help you reduce costs.
- Set your thermostat to as low a temperature as is comfortable in the winter and set your cooling system as high a temperature as is comfortable in the summer.
- During the winter, keep the draperies and shades on your south facing windows open during the day to allow the sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.
Space cooling
Purchasing a programmable thermostat can help lower your energy consumption. Install a programmable thermostat on your air cooling system to automatically adjust the temperature setting. Even an unnoticeable one-degree increase on your air conditioner setting can lead to significant energy savings.
Cleaning and servicing the household cooling system, including ducts and insulation, will help ensure efficient use of energy.
Clean or replace the filter every three months and have your air conditioning system inspected by a qualified technician annually to help ensure proper airflow.
- Use your furnace’s air exchanger to draw the cooler air from the basement into the rest of the home.
- During the summer, let cool air into your home in the evening and at night. Close your windows and blinds during the day and keep heat outside where it belongs.
- Create shade around your home. Install awnings and overhangs that shade windows from the sun. Plant trees and shrubs to provide cool summer shade – especially in newly developed areas where shade may be limited.
- Change the direction of airflow on your ceiling fan. For those cold winter months, the blades should operate in a clockwise direction, helping to push the warm air from the ceiling down into the room. In the summer, the blades should operate in a counter clockwise direction as a way of creating a cool, gentle air flow.
- During the hot summer season, keep the window coverings closed during the day to prevent solar gain.
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