Keeping your home warm in the winter is a significant expense for most homeowners. However, because many people are not home all day or do not use every area of their home they feel as if they are throwing their money away to keep their whole home warm all winter.
One alternative solution to using your furnace to heat your whole house is zone heating. Zone heating is an excellent way to help you save on energy ills while still keeping you and your family comfortable and warm all winter long.
What is zone heating?
Zone heating “puts the heat where you need it” by warming only certain rooms or areas of a house at a time. While a traditional furnace cycles on and off throughout the day to heat the entire house, a zone heating system heats a few rooms at a time at selected times. This prevents rooms – like bedrooms – from being warmed when no one is using them. With a zone heating system, for example, you could heat your living or family room during the day before switching to the bedrooms at night, ensuring now unoccupied rooms are being unnecessarily warmed.
Benefits of zone heating
The primary benefit of zone heating is energy savings. When you use your furnace to heat your home, it is impossible to control what specific parts of your home are being heated. Because of this, parts of your home are being heated even when no one is using them; this is the same as throwing money away into the furnace.
Zone heating, on the other hand, lets you control which areas of you home are being heated at what times. This allows you to concentrate on only heating areas of your home when you are using them, allowing you to set the thermostat to a lower overall temperature. This can significantly reduce energy costs, especially during the increased rates that often occur in the winter.
Why use gas for zone heating?
While zone heating can be accomplished with a regular furnace, one of the best ways to heat your home in this way is with the use of a supplemental gas heater. There are a number of reasons why gas is the ideal choice for zone heating.
- Convenience: Using a gas heating appliance is as easy as flipping a switch. This is much easier than the work and upkeep required when using a wood burning fireplace.
- Dependability: If your home loses power in bad weather, you will not be left in the cold. During power outages, gas heating appliances will continue to work, keeping your family warm and comfortable until power is restored.
- Economy: Gas is consistently one of the cheapest fuel sources. Likewise, gas appliances require very little regular maintenance, reducing upkeep fees.
- Efficiency: Modern gas heaters are extremely efficient. This means that the fuel being burned goes directly to heating your home rather than being lost in the combustion process.
Zone heating is an excellent way to heat your home while also saving your family money. For more information on how a gas heating appliance can be used to create zone heating in your home, contact The Cozy Flame today!