Energy Myths

Getting correct information on how to save energy while heating and cooling your home can be a challenge. There’s a lot of bogus information floating around, which can make it hard to achieve comfort and energy efficiency in your home. Here are the facts about several energy myths.

Myth: Leaving lights, fans and computers on is more energy efficient than turning them off and on as needed.

It’s simple: When the lights are off or the computer has been powered off, these devices aren’t using electricity. It doesn’t take a lot of extra energy to turn them off and on.

Myth: Setting a steady temperature 24/7 saves more energy than adjusting temperatures up and down to fit your schedule.

While you shouldn’t put your HVAC system through wild temperature variations, you should adjust the temperature several degrees lower (or higher in the summer) if you’re going to leave the house empty for several hours. Use a programmable thermostat to plan energy-saving setbacks for when you’re at work during the day or asleep at night. Your house doesn’t need to be comfortably heated if nobody’s home.

Myth: Close the heating vents in unoccupied rooms to save energy.

You might be able to get away with closing vents in one or two small rooms, but no more than that. Your forced-air HVAC system has been designed and sized to heat and cool your house – not the smaller space it becomes when rooms are cut off. Your system effectively becomes over-sized, with the resulting short-cycling wasting energy, stressing parts, and creating hot and cold spots. When you close off rooms, it also can result in duct leaks as the moving air in dead-end ducts forces open seams.

Myth: Your furnace filter’s main purpose is to clean indoor air.

Furnace filters are mainly designed to remove dust and debris from the air so they don’t cover HVAC components, eroding efficiency and leading to breakdowns.

For more information to dispel common energy myths, please contact us at Stack Heating & Cooling. We serve the greater Cleveland area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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