How to Reduce your Carbon Footprint this Heating Season

Think your heating and cooling decisions don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things? From your monthly energy bill to climate change, your HVAC decisions are a big deal. Heating and cooling accounts for 48% of the energy used by the average home according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency. Of this, heating alone accounts for 41.5%, air conditioning a mere 6.2%. Forty-percent of the nation’s carbon emissions result from heating, cooling, and hot water demand, a number that has been influenced by the ever-burgeoning size of American homes. With a little forethought, however, these emissions could be collectively and significantly reduced with just a little bit of effort from you and your neighbors…

Stomping Down Your Carbon Footprint

Greenhouses gases, generated by the energy we consume doing things like cooling and heating our homes,driving cars, and cooking dinner, can have dangerous consequences. The fossil fuels we consume to power these activities have significant effects, from air pollution to global warming. Fortunately, it is possible to keep the earth a little greener. All it takes is some home heating common-sense, and a little bit of effort.

Earth-Friendly Home Heating Tips:

Cut the crud.

Keeping your filter, and Mother Earth, clean. Dirty filters are the leading cause of heating system inefficiency, which leads to increased emissions – and increased breakdowns. A dirty home air filter forces your system to work harder to achieve the same results. A quick cleaning or replacement is all it takes to significantly reduce your system’s energy consumption.

Seal leaks.

20-30% of conditioned air in the average home is lost to ductwork leaks – holes and poor connections in your system. Do the earth and your wallet a favor – and hunt them down.

Watch the thermostat.

Be constantly aware of your thermostat habits. When your home is unoccupied, set the thermostat higher in the summer and lower in the winter to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bumping up or down by 2 degrees is barely noticeable – however it can reduce your carbon footprint by 2000 pounds a year!

Think SMART.

Program your thermostat to adjust automatically via programmable models, or take advantage of the latest in smart thermostat technology like Nest or Lyric by Honeywell. Systems monitor occupant behavior, developing a program that maximizes HVAC efficiency with little to no effort from you.

Safeguard efficiency.

With annual professional maintenance to ensure the proper, efficient operation and the highest level of performance from your furnace, boiler, heat pump or geothermal system.

Don’t heat the whole neighborhood

Check walls, doors and windows for drafts and seal them up. All these little leaks can equate to a window constantly left open, resulting in up to 40% heat loss.

Insulate everywhere.

Properly insulating the roof, floors, walls, basement, and attic can keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter – with less effort from your HVAC system.

It’s not easy being green – but it’s not all that hard either. Help keep Mother Earth clean for yourself and future generations. Look into greener HVAC choices in the market e.g. Geothermal Heating and Cooling systems.

Schedule an annual heating maintenance and performance inspection with H&H Heating & Air Conditioning today.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint-this-heating-season/ .