What does it mean when someone says to "winterize your heater"?
Winterization, in short, is preparing something for winter. Protecting assets like your car, home, and heater from winter weather and wear is crucial – but it also saves you big on your energy bill! It also means increasing seasonal energy efficiency through things like insulation and filter cleaning.
A Guide to Weatherizing Your Home Heating System
When properly weathering your home and utility units like your house heater, you’ll operate more efficiently and retain much more heat. This means you don’t need to run your heater nearly as much, adding money to your pocket. We’ll show you how to weatherize your home heating and dispel a few common winterization misconceptions so you can be ready when the weather turns!
Heater Winterization Tips
Clean External Debris
- Outdoor heating units like heat pumps can get a lot of dirt and plant matter on them just lying outside, especially near trees or shrubs.
Regular Maintenance
- To winterize your heater, performing routine maintenance on all your machines is a good practice. However, it’s particularly important for units like heaters with a big uptick in seasonal use. Schedule tune-ups on your heater before heavy winter use to keep it running optimally. If your heater lacks efficiency, it’ll work harder to produce the same heat, making your bill higher. Prevent this by staying on top of it before the cold hits.
Clean Vents and Filters
- Any machine that works with airflow is susceptible to dust and particulates. That’s why they typically have air filters to catch air particulates as they pass through – cleaning the air before it reaches your lungs. Debris-covered filters and vents reduce airflow, making your heater work harder and reducing efficiency. There’s no way around it, though. These need to be cleaned or replaced periodically. Doing this before each season is good practice, especially before winter, to keep the filters and machine functioning efficiently.
Add Insulation
- Improving structural heat retention is a huge part of modern winterization practices, particularly in areas that historically suffer heat loss, such as attics. This means adding some sort of insulation to pipes, vents, and the enclosure itself. Adding thermal insulation to structures you want to keep warm will decrease your heat loss, keeping your heater from turning on as often. Insulation rating is referred to as R-value, with higher R-values relating to better heat retention and energy efficiency. Conventional insulation materials are recommended, but alternative sources are an option.
Use Space Heaters
- Adding or substituting space heaters for whole-house heating can be a great way to reduce energy costs. Utilizing a secondary heater to heat only your room saves you from heating the entire building, wasting energy on empty rooms. Or space heaters can be used additionally to help heat specific zones, allowing you to significantly reduce your main heater use. Both these models are more energy efficient than simply running a whole house heating system.
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Reverse Ceiling Fans
- Reversing the direction in which your ceiling fans spin will blow warm air downward in the winter. This is a cost-effective way to get more out of the same heat since fans consume much less energy than heaters. It’s typically a clockwise setting if available.
Common Heater Winterization Misconceptions
“Close your vents in rooms you don’t want heated to save your heater.”
- This isn’t necessarily the case with whole-house heating systems. Since the thermostat measures the temperature of the entire home, when you close a vent, and that room becomes colder – the heating system works even harder to try to bring it up to the set temperature. Closing air vents can increase energy costs by confusing your thermostat and causing your heater to work overtime.
“Cover Your HVAC unit in the fall and winter to protect it from weathering.”
- Outside HVAC units are designed to handle the harsh conditions of the outdoors. Covers are usually used for air-cooling-only units, but covers that don’t restrict airflow exist for dual heating and cooling units. Some claim you should cover your unit in the fall and winter, but the reasoning behind it is not well agreed upon. Because moisture typically builds up underneath the cover anyways, it may make your unit rust faster. Covers keep debris out, though, and can be a smart move, at least in the fall when trees drop most of their twigs and leaves.
“The more insulation, the better.”
- This isn’t necessarily true because it’s not how most insulation works. Conventional insulation is designed to have tons of small air pockets to trap heat, so it is often very fluffy or spongy. If you press the insulation down by adding too much, you’ll lose these air pockets – negating their insulating factor. For maximum efficiency, leave conventional insulation not flattened.
“I can't find anyone to winterize my heater.”
- There are several ways to find qualified and licensed techs to winterize your heater. One of the best ways is by simply searching "HVAC Tech near me" or "HVAC Tech *insert your location*." You'll quickly find the best HVAC companies in your area and will be able to see their reviews and choose the best one that fits your needs. You can also visit the Talking Tradesmen Forum, find license techs, and learn more about winterizing your heater.
More Heater Info
Want to read more about Heaters? We have all the information you need:
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How To Size Your Mini-Split System
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How Mini-Splits Work
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Do Mini-Splits Increase Your Home's Value? Yes, Here's Why
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Main Types of Heat Pumps: Explained!
- Electric Heaters 101: Comparing Different Types of Heaters
Contact The Trade Table
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