The holidays, starting with Halloween do affect HVAC efficiency, but with planning, you can keep your heating bills and the occasional cooling expense to a minimum. Fall weather has its ups and downs, so it’s good to plan your party ahead of time and stay on top of the weather forecast.
Keep the front door closed.
A tremendous amount of cold air comes in through open exterior doors. Turn on the front door light so that the trick-or-treaters come to your home, but close the door when you’re not handing out candy.
Replace an old porch light with an LED bulb to save more energy. You can even line the front walkway with solar yard lights that recharge during the day, even when it’s cloudy. If you use Halloween decorations in your front yard, use solar light stakes to illuminate them
Pay attention to the weather.
If you’re planning a Halloween party at your house, pay close attention to the weather. People radiate a lot of heat and if you overheat your home before the party starts, it could get hot enough to warrant turning on the air conditioner, which defeats HVAC efficiency in October.
If you’re going to be using the oven, it will get even warmer inside. Slow cookers are a good alternative to the oven for keeping food warm, as long as they’re already moist. Avoid putting crispy food in slow cookers, since the moisture will soften the coatings.
Use candles carefully.
The flicker of candlelight adds ambience to your Halloween celebration, but it can add a lot of heat. If weather is going to be mild, use candles judiciously or limit their use to the outdoors. Wax candles emit soot particles and can clog HVAC air filters. IF you use them, check the filters after Halloween and change if necessary. LED tapers and votive candles imitate the real thing quite well, and are an inexpensive substitute to candlelight.
Using today’s technology helps make HVAC efficiency even easier. For more information, contact Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, providing HVAC services for Indianapolis homeowners.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
