A heat pump is an energy-efficient choice for heating and cooling your home in the Tampa-St. Pete area. Our mild winter days and nights usually have temperatures well above freezing, which is the ideal situation for efficient heating with a heat pump. Heat pumps are also very efficient air conditioners. There are several steps that you can take to make your system run more efficiently, both during the winter heating season and the summer cooling season:
- Replace your filter regularly. Check the heat pump’s air filter several times every season to make sure it’s not clogged with dust. A dirty filter restricts airflow in the system, requiring more energy to keep your home comfortable and decreasing the life of your equipment.
- Get a programmable thermostat. You’ll save energy by automatically setting a programmable thermostat higher in summer and lower in winter during regular times when nobody is home or at night when everybody is asleep.
- Let the thermostat do its job. In cool weather, set the thermostat and leave it alone. Avoid the temptation to temporarily bump it up to get a short blast of heat. Raising the temperature setting too quickly will make your backup heat source come on, wasting energy on electric resistance heating when you don’t really need it. Save your energy dollars for those times when temperatures get cold enough outside for your system to need that extra boost.
- Don’t block airflow. Check with your HVAC contractor before you close vents in unused rooms. Be sure all of your supply and return vents are free of obstructions. Keep grass and shrubbery trimmed away from the heat pump’s outdoor unit and make sure it’s free of dead leaves and other debris.
- Call for expert help. Other than changing your filter, you should leave most maintenance and repair tasks to your HVAC pro. Call for help if your outdoor unit freezes frequently, if your system is not keeping your house at your set temperature, or if you hear unusual noises coming from the equipment.
Call us at Cox Air Conditioning & Heating for more tips for efficient operation of the heat pump in your Tampa, Clearwater or St. Petersburg area home.
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