Many people don’t know enough about the heating systems in their homes, and that’s a shame. Knowing and understanding your heater can help you out tremendously when it comes to having it worked on or inspected.

Get to know about your system by learning what kind of heater you have and where your vents are located. You may even find that knowing more about your heating system can help you save money on your monthly bill.

Your Home’s Distribution System Matters

There are two ways your central heating system can distribute warm air throughout your house. One way is through water pipes that carry hot water to radiators in different rooms.

The other (more common) way is through a system of air ducts that carry heated air out to the various spaces in your house, and vents that guide the warm air into each room.

These vents can be located in the ceiling, or in the floors of a room. If you use radiators to heat individual rooms in your home, then your heater is likely a boiler. Boilers work by heating water and sending it to radiators in various rooms. The radiator (made of metal) then gets hot, warming the air around it.

Once the water cools a bit, it returns to the boiler to be reheated. If you have air vents and ducts, you probably use either a furnace (or forced-air system) or a heat pump. A furnace blows cold air through what is called a heat exchanger and then distributes the now-warm air throughout the house.

Heat pumps work by pulling what little heat there is in the cold outside air and pumping it into the house. This process is reversed during the summer, when hot air inside the house is pumped outside, cooling the space.

Don’t Close Vents in an Attempt to Save Money

If you think that closing the air vents in a room when you're not using it will save money on your next heating bill, you would be mistaken.

This is a common mistake many people make during colder months. In reality, closing your vents can not only raise your heating bill, but it can also cause stress on your system.

If your heating system is registering that there is already hot air in the ducts feeding into a room, it will assume that the room no longer needs to be heated. When the vents are opened, and the cold air fills the duct again, your system will have to work twice as hard to stabilize the temperature.

Here’s How You Can Save Money on Your Heating Bill

Here are some better ideas for how to save money on your heating bill:

Keep your ceiling fans running at a low speed, rotating clockwise. This will push warm air down into the room, keeping it warm.
Keep your windows coverings open during the day, and closed at night, to let the sun’s natural (and free) heat energy in and trap it there.
Turn your thermostat down ten to fifteen degrees at night and invest in warmer flannel sheets.

When you need HVAC services in Danbury, call on Carmine’s Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning at (203) 791-8089! Don’t forget to share this information and article with friends and loved ones to help them get to know their heating system better too!