Now that winter is over and springtime is getting warmer, we can finally write a retrospective blog about our heating systems and the money we were forced to spend on them. It was a pretty harsh winter, and winters aren’t getting any easier around here, so we thought it would be handy to discuss how much a heating system should cost.
Your heating bill usually accounts for 1/3 of your total utility bill according to Energy Star, so it’s important to weigh this ratio heavily when you’re planning for the future or looking at past bills.
If it looks like almost half of your budget went to your heating bills, or you had an excessive need for heating service in Paradise Hill, SK, then there might be some work that needs to be done to prepare for next winter. Your heating system might need to be replaced by a newer, more efficient one!
How Expensive Should Heating Bills Be?
As we mentioned earlier, heating costs should be about 1/3 of your total utility bill for the entire house. This can change depending on certain factors though.
If you’ve got an electric heating system, for instance, then prices will change depending on the cost of electricity in your local area. And, to make things even more complicated, if you’ve got solar panels on your home or some kind of method for generating electricity, then your energy bills might go down and you might expect heating costs to lower.
For gas heating systems, you’re still going to need to compare your bills to the price of gas in the area. An HVAC technician can help you understand how expensive your bills should be, or how expensive it should be to run a high-efficiency heating system like yours!
Factors That Impact Your Heating Bill
Sometimes you’re looking at different factors impacting your heating bill, not just the price of gas or electricity. For instance, if your heating system runs into problems, that could lower its energy efficiency and cause it to consume more fuel or energy to produce the same amount of heat. This is going to be a big factor that can impact your heating bill over time.
Also, if you’ve got airflow problems at home, then your heating system could be working harder to provide you with more heat than it needs to. Drafty homes, or homes with air duct cleaks can lose a lot of their heated air to places where homeowners can’t feel it, and that’s where our problem gets worse.
Here are three solutions that could help remedy your problem if you’ve noticed that your heating system has become too expensive to run.
Maintenance, Repairs, or Replacement
You’ve got three choices when it comes to professional attention for your heating system:
- Maintenance. If the price to run your heater just rose slightly, then you need to get it maintained to keep the efficiency levels high.
- Repairs. A sudden spike in heating costs could mean there’s a problem that needs to be fixed.
- Replacement. If your heating system has been running expensively for a while, then it might be time to replace it!
It’s time to call Guardian Plumbing & Heating Ltd. Lloydminster’s Plumbing and Heating Authority