As many homeowners know, your electric baseboard heaters can account for a large portion of your household energy consumption, especially through the winter months! Ensuring that heaters are running properly and efficiently is key in keeping your energy costs low.
Autumn Cleaning – In the fall, as the weather starts to cool off, be sure to clean your electric baseboard heaters before starting to use them again. Wipe down the top as well as between the fins and around the housing of the element, removing all dust. If your electric baseboard heater is dusty, it will not work properly!
Heat (& Cost) Rises – Did you know that for every degree above 20°C (68°F) you set your thermostat, your heating can increase by up to 5%? Keeping your house heat set lower will benefit everybody
Sweet 16 – Want to save up to 10% on your energy costs? Consider turning your thermostat down at certain times of the day to 16°C (61°F). When you go out of town, when you’re out of the house all day, and when you’re sleeping, you can turn down your thermostat and save big!
Don’t Blast the Heat – It seems wise to turn the thermostat up several degrees higher than normal when you enter a chilly room. However, this does nothing to heat your space faster. At the same time, it is utilizing more energy to crank the heat, as it will continue to do so even after you’ve reached a comfortable temperature. Better to leave the thermostat alone and bundle up for a bit!
Thermo-Facts – What kind of thermostat you have can alter how accurate the reading is. For example, a dial on the side of the baseboard is less precise than a programmable/digital thermostat on the wall. As well, having your thermostat mounted near a refrigerator, above a baseboard heater, or in direct sunlight can skew readings as well.
Get Smart – Like anything else modernly, smart technology can be a part of your home heating, too! There are a number of smart thermostats available on the market that can connect to electric baseboard heaters. By installing a smart thermostat, you have the ease of altering heat settings from your smart phone screen.
One Room Only – While electric baseboard heaters are a great option, they’re designed to heat a single enclosed space. So if you’re hoping the heat from your living room will travel down the hallway, you’ll be disappointed. Alternative methods are better suited for heating the entire house, like a heat pump.
Under the Window – Windows tend to be cold spots in a home – they’re less insulated and allow for drafts to enter. The air that comes in through the window is cold and wet, sinking towards the floor. Electric baseboard heaters can be installed underneath the windows to combat this problem! As the cool air drops, the heater pushes warm air up and around the room.
Level Flooring – While it may appear that your electric baseboard heaters simply blow hot air out of the front of them, this isn’t the case. The warm air circulates along the floor around the entire space. Thick rugs can have an impact on how well the room is being heated. Your electric baseboard heater should be installed 3/4 inches above the floor to avoid this issue.
Curtains & Drapes – In a similar vein, your curtains could be affecting how warm your house is, too! Similarly to the rug problem, the warm air needs room to circulate in order to heat a space effectively. So while curtains can help by keeping cool air outside, they can also be blocking your electric baseboard heaters and causing you to freeze! Be sure to keep curtains out of the way.
It doesn’t take too much time and energy to sort out your home heating before winter comes. Take these easy tips and do a check of your house this autumn, and call your local electrician if anything needs upgrading!