The typical home cooling and heating system is made up of three main components that work together to keep your home comfortable year-round. These components are:

• The thermostat, which tells the system when to turn on and off.
• The heat pump, furnace or air conditioner, which is responsible for producing warm or cool air.
• The ductwork, which distributes the conditioned air throughout the home.

The key to improving the energy efficiency of your home cooling and heating system is to first improve the efficiency of each individual component. Try using the following tips to impact energy savings:

• Invest in a programmable thermostat to automatically raise or lower the temperature while you are away from home or sleeping. This helps you avoid wasting money on heating or cooling your home when no one is up or around.
• One easy way to boost the efficiency of your home cooling and heating system is to regularly replace the air filter on your furnace, air conditioner or heat pump. This improves airflow to the system, which in turn helps it consume less energy during normal operation. Additionally, you should schedule regular service visits with a qualified HVAC company to keep your equipment operating as efficiently as possible.
• Leaky ductwork is a leading cause of residential energy loss. Locating and sealing air leaks in your duct system can dramatically improve energy efficiency. In addition to duct sealing, you should consider insulating your ductwork in areas where it runs through unconditioned spaces, such as your attic or garage.

Taking the time to improve the efficiency of each component of your HVAC system is a great way to ensure that the entire system operates more efficiently. If you live in Southwest Florida and would like to learn more about the benefits of programmable thermostats, duct sealing or regular service visits, contact the professionals at Conditioned Air.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Programmable thermostat image via Shutterstock