Tips to Increase Comfort and Control Heating Costs

All Heating Systems:

Keep doors and windows closed, caulked and weather-sealed.
Put towels down at the bottom of doors going outside or to unconditioned space. By blocking cold air from coming in, your heating system won’t have to work as hard to maintain the temperature set on your thermostat.
All air forced systems have air filters. Make sure your filter is clean. If the system can’t push air through the filter, it can’t push air through the registers in your home.
Set your thermostat at the lowest comfortable setting possible.
Maintain and properly use your heat source. Keep it clean and make sure all fabrics, furniture, etc. are the recommended distance from air registers, heating elements and fans so the system can distribute heat as designed.
Have a trained technician adjust blower control and supply-air temperature

Maintain and properly use your heat pump. Check filters monthly and have a qualified technician check the refrigerant to keep it working at maximum efficiency. The difference between the energy consumption of a well-maintained heat pump and a severely neglected one ranges from 10%–25%.
Don’t bump up your thermostat more than one degree at a time. Anything over two degrees will cause the “emergency” heat strips inside the heat pump to come on basically making your energy efficient heat pump into an electric furnace as it works to bring the entire house up to the higher temperature.
Check your duct work. Make sure there are no holes or tears in the insulation and that the ducts are taped and sealed at all connect points. You don’t want to make your heat pump work harder and use more energy than it has to by heating un-insulated areas like the attic or crawl space. (This applies to electric furnaces, too.)
Older heat pump models work as much as four times harder in temperatures below 30 degrees. If you think it might be time to replace your older unit do your homework and select a reputable, trained technician for the installation. Even the most energy-efficient heating and cooling system will fail to save you money if it is installed incorrectly or improperly adjusted.
When choosing an air-source electric heat pump, look for the ENERGY STAR® label, which is awarded to those units with SEERs of 12 or greater and HSPFs of 7 or greater.