Reducing Your Heating Load Means Increasing Your Furnace Efficiency

Furnace efficiency relies on many internal system factors working together, such as maintenance and upkeep, condition of the unit’s filter and blower motor effectiveness. External factors can also have a significant effect on how well your furnace operates. One of the more important of these is the heating loss of your house.

By reducing your homes “heat loss”, you improve several other external conditions that affect how efficiently your furnace works. “Heat loss” is the total amount of heating that is “lost” to the colder outdoors through the walls, windows and the ceiling of the homes structure. The “heat loss” increases if your house isn’t energy efficient. If energy and warm air are being lost throughout your heating system, and if your home isn’t sealed well enough to keep cold air out and warm air in, your furnace will never be able to function at its highest level of efficiency.

Here are a few steps you can take to reduce your home’s heating load and improve its seal. These steps will let your furnace run at a more efficient and money-saving level.

  • Find and seal air leaks. Check chimneys, furnace flues, exhaust fans, roofs, heating system ductwork and places where air could leak out from holes, cracks or gaps.
  • Add insulation to walls, ceilings, basement, attic and crawl spaces. Make sure the heating system’s ductwork is well insulated. Seal holes where pipes, wires, or conduits enter your home.
  • Seal gaps around doors and widows with foam or rubber weatherstripping. Seal leaks around glass panes with silicone caulking.
  • Install storm doors and windows and insulating window treatments to block cold air and drafts. If possible, replace windows with insulated double-pane units that have beneficial thermal characteristics. Also be sure your storm windows are closed once your heating system has been activated for the season.
  • Schedule preventative maintenance on your heating system. Regularly change furnace filters to improve efficiency and reduce potential for breakdowns.

Since 1983, Overland Park Heating & Cooling has provided reliable residential, commercial, and industrial heating and cooling services to customers in the greater Kansas City area. Contact us todayfor answers to your questions about reducing your heating load for improved furnace efficiency and savings on your utility bills throughout the season.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about reducing your heating load in order to increase your furnace efficiency and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Overland Park Heating & Cooling services Overland Park and surrounding areas in Kansas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!