If you are always looking for ways to reduce energy costs, making sure that your heater is energy efficient is a great way to help reduce costs! But now the question is, how do you tell if your heater is energy efficient or not? There are some easy ways to find out. Here’s three ways that you can check to see if your heater is energy efficient, or if you are paying more than you should on your heating bills.
Know your system’s age:
A big part of whether or not your heater is energy efficient is how long it’s been around. Most residential heaters are built to last about 15-20 years. Each year, your heater can decline in efficiency by about 5% per year. Making sure that you keep up on regular maintenance and changing out your filter when it’s time will help your system last longer, but eventually your heaters’ age will show. If you have had your heater for a while, it may be the reason why it’s not running as efficiently as it could.
Learn your AFUE rating:
AFUE stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. An AFUE rating will tell you how efficient your heater is at converting fuel to energy. This method is the best way to tell if your heater is energy efficient or not. The higher the rating, the more efficient your system is. A heater that is high in efficiency will have a rating of 90% or higher. You can locate this rating in the user manual or on the furnace cabinet.
Look at your bills:
It’s normal for your bills to fluctuate throughout different seasons, especially living in Iowa. Instead of comparing your bills each month, take your current bill and compare it with a bill from the same time last year. Make sure to also factor in things like weather comparisons or if you’ve increased your home’s square footage at all. If you notice a large difference, this could be a sign that your heating efficiency may be down.
There are a lot of reasons why your heater could be running less efficiently. Call an HVAC professional today at 515-965-7272 to figure out why your heater may not be running to full efficiency and what the next steps could be.
