Gig Harbor Heating & Air Conditioning – Locally Owned and Operated

At Gig Harbor Heating and Air provides 24-hour emergency service for residential and commercial installation, maintenance and service.  We have a commitment to provide great services with complete customer satisfaction. Sometimes small do it yourself ideas can help you save even more and we want our customers to save money year round. Below are a few tips to help you do just that after you get the best service from us.

Tips to Decrease Your Heating Costs

Stop drafts and air leaks in the building first: It is important to find and fix leaky windows, doors. The leaks in an older home may be small individually, but collectively they can be equal to leaving a window or door open. There is not much benefit in adding insulation to a building if a window or door is being left open or drafts are not stopped.

Insulate attics: The general movement of warm air and heat in a building is “up” and “out”. If a building is not well insulated or not insulated at all, the attic floor is the place to start with improving heat loss. Be sure to provide proper attic ventilation to avoid creating a moisture problem.

Add storm windows: If your building’s windows are old, leaky, or are not insulated, adding storm windows can have a fast payback.

Insulate walls: Be sure to check basements and crawl spaces for drafts at the top of the foundation walls.

Insulate crawl spaces: Contemporary building scientists prefer to close off crawl space venting and convert these areas to conditioned space.

Tips to Decrease Your Cooling Costs

Maintain with Maintenance: Have regular maintenance performed on your air conditioning unit. Replace the filter monthly during the cooling season and have a professional service your system at the beginning of each cooling season.

Use an Energy Efficient Cooling System: A cooling system is one of the biggest energy guzzlers in your home (second only to your heating system). If you have an old air conditioning system with a SEER rating of less than 8, it may be worthwhile to consider replacing it with a more energy efficient system. Call Gig Harbor Heating and Air for excellent savings on cooling system replacements.

Replace Your Old Thermostat with a Programmable One: Install a programmable thermostat so you can vary the temperature according to when you’re home. Set it to 78 degrees when you’re home. It makes sense to set the air conditioning higher while you’re gone.

Take a Green Approach to Energy Saving, Literally: Plant shade trees and shrubs around your house away from your air conditioning condenser to help reduce the heat of the sun, especially on the west and south sides. This can reduce your cooling costs.

A Beautiful Home and a Beautiful Bill: A lighter coat of paint will not absorb heat the way a darker color will. The darker the paint, the more heat it will absorb, so if you’re building, buying, or considering repainting, choose lighter colors for the exterior. This can reduce the amount of heat your home takes in from the sun.

Ventilate the Attic: In the attic, vents in the eaves and a ridge vent or an attic fan allows cooler air to enter and significantly reduce your cooling costs.

Tips to Decrease Heating and Cooling Costs

Small Steps Big Pay Off: There are many small steps you can take to affect how your home absorbs natural light and heat. Close drapes on the sunny side of your house and install awnings on the windows on the sunny side of your house. In the winter this action can help keep drafts to a minimum.

The All Important Attic: It is important to seal up air leaks in your home and make sure your attic has a proper balance of insulation and ventilation to reduce your air conditioning and heating costs. Caulk or seal places where utilities come into your home and weather-strip around drafty windows and doors.