Ceiling fans are often advertised as a means of saving you energy, but it depends on the efficiency of the fan itself and how it is used.

A ceiling fan doesn't actually cool the air in your home - it can only circulate it.  It makes you feel cooler during warmer months because the air blowing across your skin evaporates moisture, making you feel cooler. During the colder months a ceiling fan will help circulate the warm air closer to the living space in larger rooms.

Ceiling fans have the potential to save energy in a few ways:

• If you use ceiling fans instead of your air conditioning on spring/fall days when the weather is just warming up, it will use less energy than running your air conditioner.
• At the same time, if you're using the fans while also setting the thermostat a few degrees warmer, you're possibly saving money, depending on things like how many degrees, how many fans are operating, and how efficient the fans are.
• Remember to turn off the fans when there is nobody in the room. Because fans don’t cool the air, but actually add some heat with the energy they’re using, it will defeat the purpose of using the fan if it's running in empty rooms.

The important point to keep in mind is that in order to realize the benefits of cieling fans, you must be turning down the thermostat in winter and turning it up in the summer by at least several degrees. And, as noted above, only use fans in rooms that are occupied.

As with choosing an air conditioner or furnace, ceiling fans are also Energy Star Rated. By choosing a more energy efficient model you can save as much as 50% over non-qualifying models.  

Besides ceiling fans, here are some other tips for saving money on heating and cooling your home:

1. Use a programmable thermostat - The ability to change the temperature in your home when you're away or while sleeping can make a big difference in your energy usage.  The government estimates as much as $180 in energy costs (enough to buy some ceiling fans!).  Newer thermostats are simple to program and many come pre-programmed to energy star guidelines!
2. Have your air conditioner and furnace cleaned and maintained -  Regular maintenance of your heating and cooling system will ensure the burners are working efficiently, the A/C coils are clean and the refrigerant charge is correct.  Improper refrigerant charge can make your equipment work harder (using more energy) and shorten its life.
3. Change your furnace air filter - a clogged furnace filter will make your heating system's blower work much harder than it needs to and might even cause your coil to freeze up when your A/C is running.  Standard 1" filters should be changed every month when your equipment is running continuously.

If you’re a typical Chicago area homeowner, you spend about $2,000 each year on energy bills—and more than half of that amount goes to heating and cooling your home. It makes sense to look carefully at your home's heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to see whether there are changes you could make to reduce your energy bill and improve your comfort.

Automatic Energy Savings

One of the easiest ways to increase the efficiency of your furnace and air conditioner is to use a programmable thermostat. You can save around 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back around 10°–15° for eight hours a day. A programmable thermostat makes it easy to set this up automatically, so that your home heating or cooling system uses less energy while you are sleeping or not at home. You could save nearly $200 annually with an optimally programmed thermostat.

But doesn't reheating my house use more energy?

A common misconception is the belief that turning your thermostat down at night in the winter will end up using more energy because you'll have to heat the house back up in the morning.
Not true! The reality is you are "losing" less heat to the environment when you don't keep your home as warm and thus have to spend less money heating your home...especially when you are sleeping, you won't even notice the difference!

Other Advantages to Programmable Thermostats

• Can automatically monitor and adjust your humidity levels
• Can tell you the temperature outside
• Can be larger and backlit for ease of reading
• Can automatically cycle the air in the home to create even temperatures throughout.

Welcome to ABC's new series of tips to help you save energy and money. To get started with the series we'll be talking about energy audits.

What is an Energy Audit?

An energy audit is a series of tests designed to help to identify where your home is leaking energy and how well your heating & cooling system are working.  When performing an energy audit our heating experts will ask you some comfort questions about your home, perform a heat loss calculation, inspect and measure the homes duct work system.  By performing an accurate energy audit, we can help determine the right heating and cooling equipment for your home, how to maximize your homes energy efficiency and help even out the temperatures in your home.

According to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), energy star, and consumer reports, a good heating and air contractor should perform these tests on your home before replacing your heating and cooling system.  In fact, the EPA notes “be leery” of any contract not willing to perform an accurate heat loss calculation on your home.

How do I get an energy audit for my home and what does it cost?

There are companies in the Chicago Illinois area that you can hire to perform an energy audit. The cost of an energy audit will depend on the company but we include them as complementary service when you request a quote to replace your heating and cooling equipment.

Can I do an energy audit myself?

Some Chicago are homeowners choose to do their own home energy audit.  From our experience it is very difficult to perform these tests on your own.  The software to perform an accurate test can be very expensive and tools aren’t readily available.  However, there are free basic versions available that can be used to double check your contractors work.

For information on do-it-yourself home energy audits, visit the The Home Energy Saver. The Home Energy Saver will help you compute your home's energy use with online based on methods developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. By changing features on a model home, users can estimate how much energy and money can be saved and how much pollution prevented by implementing energy-efficiency improvements. All end uses (home heating, cooling, major appliances, lighting, and miscellaneous uses) are included. A detailed description of underlaying calculation methodsand data is provided in a special report.

I've had an Energy Audit, what's next?

Once you know where your home is losing energy there are many techniques you can use to prevent energy loss and save money. The rest of our Energy Savers Series will be a collection of tips and techniques that expert energy auditors use to help homeowners save energy and money.

Next up, saving energy with Programmable Thermostats