January 12, 2011

Top 3 winter myths. Are you doing one of them?

There are many misconceptions on how to keep your utility bills down in the winter. Kaukauna Utilities and Focus on Energy are here to bust those myths – providing you ways to keep your energy costs down without sacrificing comfort.

Myth: Turning down the thermostat during the day will make my furnace work harder later.
Truth: Your furnace will run for a shorter time and use far less energy to heat up a cool house than it would if you kept the house warm all day.

Myth: You should close the vents in rooms you are not using to save energy.
Truth: Closing vents will restrict airflow coming out of the furnace, causing the blower motor to work harder which will affect the comfort level of the rest of the home.

Myth: Electric space heaters are better than heating the whole house.
Truth: These are major energy suckers. It is impractical, expensive, and potentially dangerous to have a space heater running for a long period of time. If you really want to cut energy costs for heating, try turning your thermostat down a degree or two.