{"id":974,"date":"2019-04-01T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T15:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/?p=974"},"modified":"2019-03-27T08:39:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T12:39:31","slug":"evaluating-heating-costs-plan-next-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/evaluating-heating-costs-plan-next-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating Your Heating Costs to Plan for Next Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-975 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/planner-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"planner\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/planner-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/planner-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/planner.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>When the cold weather winds down as spring advances, you\u2019ll want to put the winter far behind you and consider your summer plans. The air conditioner in your house will soon switch to regular operation, so this is the ideal time to schedule its annual maintenance appointment.<\/p>\n<p>There are still good reasons to give some thought to your home heating system during the spring, however, and maybe even arrange for <a href=\"\/heating\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">heater service in Shreveport, LA<\/a> from our experts. Spring is a time when you won\u2019t need either your heating or air conditioning system running steadily, so it\u2019s the right period to evaluate what you may need in the future\u2014and then have it done during a time when there\u2019s no scheduling crunch for technicians.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>How well did your heater perform this winter?<\/h3>\n<p>The first part of evaluating your future heating needs is to evaluate how your heater worked over the last winter. Did it work without needing any repairs? Were your heating bills about the same as usual? Were there no warning sounds coming from the system? Is the heater less than 15 years old? If all these are true, then your heating system can probably handle next winter with few problems. (It will still need a fall tune-up, however! This must be done every year.)<\/p>\n<p>However, if you answered \u201cno\u201d to any of these questions, there\u2019s a reason to think about scheduling repairs or even a replacement before the heater shuts down entirely for the summer.<\/p>\n<h3>Options if you choose a replacement<\/h3>\n<p>If a technician thinks a replacement for your aging, energy-draining heater is the best way forward, the next thing for you to consider is what type of heating system to install. If you currently have a natural gas furnace or natural gas boiler, you\u2019ll probably want to replace it with the same type of heater. Natural gas is a great resource for a house and we recommend you take advantage of it everywhere you can. You can, however, make an upgrade to a higher efficiency model, such as a condensing gas furnace.<\/p>\n<p>If you have an electric furnace, we suggest you look into the possibility of getting a heat pump. This is an especially good idea if you think your AC needs to be replaced as well\u2014a heat pump handles both heating and cooling.<\/p>\n<h3>Arrange for duct testing and sealing<\/h3>\n<p>Higher than normal heating bills for the last season may not be due to an aging system. You may have leaky ductwork, and if this is the case, you\u2019ll definitely want the ducts tested and then sealed. Leaky ducts affect not only your heating but your air conditioning as well.<\/p>\n<h3>Think about a new thermostat<\/h3>\n<p>An older thermostat may control the heating system just fine\u2014but a new thermostat can make significant improvements. Make sure you call on HVAC professionals to help you with selecting and installing a new comfort control system since a badly matched new thermostat can damage an older HVAC system.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"\/contact\/schedule-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Call the Doctor of Home Comfort:<\/a> Hall\u2019s Heating, Air Conditioning &amp; Refrigeration can help with all your home heating and cooling needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are still good reasons to give some thought to your home heating system during the spring<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[49,50,88],"class_list":["post-974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heating-service","tag-heating-system-maintenance","tag-heating-system-repair","tag-shreveport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=974"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":978,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974\/revisions\/978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}