Tips for Your Home > Basement/Storage | Bedroom 

Heating and Cooling Systems

It is likely that more than 50 percent of your utility bills pay for the cost of heating and cooling your living space.

See below for some simple steps to make your heating and cooling equipment more energy efficient.

Regularly clean and change the filter on all of your heating and cooling systems. Dirt reduces the flow of air and hinders heating and cooling performance. Have your system cleaned, inspected, and tuned up by a professional service contractor every few years.

Clean fins and coils on baseboard heaters and radiators.

Insulate ducts and hot water distribution pipes

Install a programmable thermostat that can automatically turn up the temperature half an hour before you come home and turn down the temperature at night. Simple as it is, the way you use your thermostat can significantly affect your heating and cooling energy consumption. Unlike stepping on a gas pedal in a car, pushing the thermostat higher or lower does not usually make the house heat or cool any faster; it just makes the system run longer.

Programmable thermostats will also reduce toxics in your home by eliminating older thermostats that contain mercury.

It is illegal in New York State to discard consumer products that contain mercury in the trash. Recycle old mercury thermostats by taking them to a Thermostat Recycling Corportation participating location. In addition, mercury thermostats and other mercury-containing devices can be taken to any NYC Department of Sanitation Special Waste Drop-Off Site.

Set the thermostat at 68°F or lower in the winter and 78°F or higher in the summer. For each degree above or below these settings, 3 to 5 percent more energy is used.

Check your furnace or boiler AFUE rate. Furnaces and boilers are rated according to their “Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency,” or AFUE, which is a measure of efficiency over an entire heating season. The AFUE is calculated using a formula developed by the U.S. Department of Energy. The minimum standard set by the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act is 78 percent AFUE for gas and oil furnaces and 80 percent AFUE for gas and oil boilers.

Improve boiler efficiency with an electric ignition, which eliminates the need to have the pilot light burning all the time. Sealed combustion is a good option because it uses outside air to fuel the burner, reducing draft and improving safety.

Consider replacing your old air conditioner. Older air conditioners use CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), or “freon,” as a refrigerant. Because of environmental concerns, modern air conditioners use CFC replacements.

Air conditioners and dehumidifiers can be recycled by scheduling an appointment for CFC recovery and then placing the item at the curb. You can make an appointment on the Sanitation website or call 311.

Choose the right size air conditioner for your room or apartment. Air conditioners both cool and remove humidity. If the unit is too large, the room will be damp, because the air conditioner cannot effectively reduce humidity. Running a smaller unit for a longer time will actually use less energy to completely cool a room. Use an online calculator to choose the appropriate size air conditioner.

Look for an air conditioner with a temperature readout and a built-in timer to allow you more control. Remember to select the unit with the highest energy efficiency ratio (EER) or seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER). The EER is the amount of heat energy removed from the house when the air conditioner is running. High-efficiency air conditioning units have EER ratings of 9.0 or above. High-efficiency central air conditioners have SEER ratings ranging from 10.0 to as high as 16.0.

ALSO SEE energy efficiency section in resources for links to additional information, recycling for information on how to recycle bulk metal, appliance store in shopping tips, and energy efficiency in tips for your home.

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