Cutting Heating Costs

You can cut down on the high costs of heating your home by taking care of your furnace and making smart purchases. That's good news, since energy bills are already at all-time highs and are expected to keep going up. In fact, a recent article in USA Today said that heating costs for homeowners will go up by an average of 25.7% from a year ago.

Experts say that your furnace's energy efficiency is very important if you want to save money on heating costs. Jim Miller, who works for the Amana brand of furnaces, says, "Homeowners don't have much control over the price of natural gas, but they can do things to keep their heating costs down." Here are some tips he gives:

1. Check out your furnace. Miller said, "If you haven't had a licenced HVAC contractor check your furnace yet this year, do it now." "He can check your furnace for safety and clean it so that it runs as well as possible."
2. Choose a high-efficiency furnace when you buy a new one. Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency, or "AFUE," is a measurement made by the U.S. Department of Energy that shows how well a furnace uses fuel. The higher a furnace's AFUE, the more efficient it is. "Furnaces older than 15 years have about 60 percent AFUE efficiency. This means that for every dollar you spend on heating costs, only 60 cents go toward warming your home. The other 40 cents are wasted.

Miller said, "If you replaced that 60 percent AFUE furnace with a high-efficiency unit like the Amana brand AMV9 96 percent AFUE Variable-Speed Furnace, you would get 96 cents worth of heat for every dollar you spent on heating your home."

He also said that furnaces with blowers that can be set to different speeds are even more efficient because they use up to 75% less electricity than a standard motor. Also, a furnace's blower works with the home's cooling system, so customers get more efficiency all year long.