The peaks of the winter and summer are when heating and air conditioning bills are at all-time highs. With winter steadily moving in around the country, it's that time of year for people to make their homes more energy-efficient to reduce heating costs. While older homes tend to be less efficient at keeping warm air inside of the house, several tricks can reduce the amount of air that leaks out.
In older homes, air tends to leak freely in and out of windows. This is because older homes were built with single-pane windows, rather than the modern double-pane windows that newer homes have. These single-pane windows are extremely poor insulators, making it difficult to keep air trapped inside of them. One solution to this problem is buying drapes that are specially designed to block air leakage from the window. A more economical option is to tape big sheets of plastic to the inside of the window sill. This will help to block that cold air that tries to enter the house.
Doors are also major problems in older homes. Many older doors are not only made out of thin wood, but they are also poorly put into place, creating little gaps for air to move through. This can cause bills for heating and air conditioning in Colorado Springs to go through the roof. A
great solution for this is to install sealing tape along with the door frames. This will create a tighter fit between the door and door frame, hopefully eliminating the air leakage problem.
Heating and Air Conditioning Systems
There are many different types of central heating and air conditioning systems. The right one for you will depend on where your property is situated i.e. what type of weather conditions you get, the size of your home, and your own personal requirements i.e. the size of your family. The idea behind any system is the same i.e. you want to heat the house when it is cold and cool it when it is warm. This will involve either moving air or moving water. All systems work on either one or a combination of these principles.
A gas-forced air system is probably the most common central heating system in the US today. Basically, a furnace heats the air which is then blown through your home by a system of fans. When you want to cool the air i.e. in summer, the same system takes the air in your home and passes it via a refrigeration device. That is the most basic explanation but there really isn't an awful lot more to these systems. Do they work? Yes but they are not very efficient, are prone to being drafty, and can result in needlessly high bills. You could have a standalone electric system which is popular as it is cheap to install. But it is expensive to run and you cannot add air conditioning to the same system so that is an additional cost should you need cool air in the
summer.
The best system is probably a combination of a couple of the above technologies. You should discuss your options with a professional Arlington heating and air conditioning systems company. They will be happy to advise you on the best option for your particular needs.
