The easy ways to keep your furnace happy this winter.
These days, you never know how warm or cold a winter can be. It seems like one day you’re fine in a hoodie, but the next you’re tearing apart your closet trying to find your warmest wool layers.
Winter can be terrible—cold weather, snowy roads, messy slush, and not nearly as much sunlight as we want (can it stay light past 5:30 again please?). But here’s where things really get bad. Don’t you hate worrying about your furnace on top of everything else? We do.
But your furnace woes can be mitigated with a just little bit of effort. Check out a few of our tips for keeping your furnace healthy and happy.
Get the most out of your furnace!
Furnaces can be intimidating. They’re massive machines that control whether or not your home stays livable! If they break in the summer, you’ll live in a sauna. If they break in the winter, you’re an ice cube. Not to mention, repairs can be expensive and confusing.
At Lykens Companies, we don’t think you should fear your furnace. In fact, we know of a few ways that you can nurture your furnace’s health to make sure that stays healthy and efficient in any season.
Change your furnace filters more often than you think.
This one takes as little as a 30 seconds, but it’s so easy to put off until “tomorrow” and then the next day, and the next day, and…
Stop the procrastination! This is one of the most important things you can can do for your furnace and, in turn, for your own personal comfort. Many people assume that, if their furnace stops running, it indicates that it’s totally broken down and needs professional attention, if not a full replacement. This is not the case.
Most people think that the purpose of a furnace filter is to purify the air that we breathe. As a result they end up getting ripped off—they spend money on expensive hypoallergenic furnace filters. These kinds of filters aren’t only missing the mark, but they’re so thick that it creates an asthmatic effect for the furnace.
Furnaces actually struggle to use thick hypoallergenic filters and can end up becoming damaged them. They have to work that much harder just to suck in air. The risk of damaging your furnace just isn’t worth the potential reward of maybe having cleaner air. In our opinion, it’s best to stick with a standard furnace filter. They’re cheaper and easier on the furnace.
The actual purpose of your furnace filter is to stop dust and debris from getting into your furnace and damaging it. Think of them as shields for your furnaces. Anyway, what does this have to do with winter weather, right?
Well, winter cold (sometimes even more than summer heat) can call for your furnace to be blowing nearly all the time. As a result, your furnace filter is going to get a ton more air blowing through it. That means that it will dirty more quickly. To keep your furnace effective and your home warm, change your furnace filters once a month in the winter.
It might sound excessive, but it’s not. In fact, furnaces are smart enough to shut off if the filter is too dirtied. If your furnace has stopped blowing, you should try changing the filter before anything else—it’s sort of like the quick fix of restarting your computer.
Oh, and by the way, a more efficient furnace means a lower heating bill. We’ll take thatin our stocking any day.
Give your thermostat a rest.
We know—thermostats are terribly designed pieces of technology. How is something so simple so complicated? It’s easy to get home and adjust your thermostat’s strength the same way you would a ceiling fan, but that’s the opposite of what you should be doing. Here are a few ways that we use our thermostats to keep our homes warm, to save money, and to keep our furnace healthy.
We keep it on the Auto function.
Imagine being thirsty and getting water from the faucet. After you fill up your glass and have a drink, you leave the kitchen. The only problem? You’ve left the water pouring out! Instead of just taking the water you need and saving the rest, you’ve chosen to constantly have water pouring out. Crazy, right? Believe it or not, you’re basically doing the same thing when you have your thermostat set to “On” or “Hold” instead of “Auto.”
The “Auto” function of a thermostat makes the furnace run only when it needs to, while the “On” function causes the furnace to run constantly. In fact, the “On” function causes the average furnace to run for 200 more hours a month! The results? They’re the same. Both the “Auto” and “On” functions leave your home at the set temperature.We’re left wondering why there’s even an “On” function in the first place! So, unless you don’t want to be energy and cost efficient, always use the “Auto” function on your thermostat!
Here’s the other thing that most people get wrong. When we leave for work, we’re tempted to turn our furnace off or very low when we leave our home. “It will save money,” we think; however, that might not be the case.
It actually demands more energy from your furnace to lower its temperature only to raise it again just a few hours later. It’s the same reason why we keep our cars running at red lights. It uses more gas to cut the ignition and then rev the engine just a couple minutes later. What’s our solution?
We advise that most people keep the thermostat set to one temperature throughout the day. Instead of constantly fluctuating the number on the screen, consider keeping it set to a reasonable 68° in the cold winter months.
The exception? If you’re going to lower your temperate for 8 or more hours, then turning your thermostat down 7°-10° can save you up to 10% on your annual heating costs, according to energy.gov.
Lastly, before you invest in one of those fancy smart thermostats, make sure that your current furnace can handle it. Sometimes, a pairing with an old furnace can lead to unfavorable results.
Now, a bit about Lykens Companies…
With 20 years (and counting) of experience, we believe that Lykens Companies is just getting started on its mission to offer Columbus hundreds of premier apartments, rentals, and renovations. Each day, we are driving toward constantly expanding and improving our business and bettering Columbus, the city we love. For our renters, that means that they are connected to a proven business that is always striving to be the best. Our success isn’t an accident. We are constantly striving to improve our quality, both in the buildings that we renovate, reimagine, and rent out; moreover, we are striving to improve in the way that our business operates. For you, that means the best units and the best service in the best locations.
As we invest our time, money, and energy into the Short North, Victorian Village, Italian Village, and other parts of Columbus’s urban core, it’s nothing short of amazing to step back and see how much we’re able to impact our city, whether that looks like renovating apartments, houses, or even factories like the Wonder Bread Lofts and the forthcoming Budd Dairy project: a full scale reimagining of an old dairy factory into a Cameron Mitchell food hall and state-of-the-art coworking space.
If you’re looking to rent in Columbus, Ohio’s urban core, you’ve come to the right place. We’re confident that it doesn’t get better than us when it comes to finding the absolute best apartments and rentals in Columbus.
See every availability!
Whether you’re looking for an apartment in the Short North, a rental in Victorian Village, a studio in Italian Village, or a loft in Wonder Bread, our Available Rentals page will feature all that (and more). We’re constantly adding our newest properties and highlighting that month’s leasing specials. Bookmark it and check often! What if you took two minutes to browse it right now? And don’t forget about our awesome Instagram for updates, new leases, and beautiful photos.
Already a resident? Refer a friend!
At Lykens Companies, we offer a simple and easy referral program to our tenants (and even non-tenants). For each referral of yours who signs a lease, we’ll pay you $200! Be sure to learn everything about this awesome plan and even check out our three methodsto actually get your friends to sign a lease.
