Posts

Improved Heating Hacks In Toronto And The GTA

Heating a home on those especially cold winter nights isn’t easy. It takes a lot of energy, which in turn leads to a spike in your monthly bill. But what’s the alternative, freezing? Of course not.

While the easy answer is to say you need a new furnace, boiler, or heat pump, that’s just not always a reality. For most of us, a $2,000 (minimum) expense isn’t something we can just put on our credit cards or pay off immediately. And what if there is a draft coming in from one of your windows? Not all of us know how to seal it, and paying a handyman isn’t ideal.

Luckily, there are some improved heating hacks we can share that will help you get through the winter and make those repairs in the coming spring and summer.      

DIY Improved Heating Hacks

  • Ceiling fans

This is probably the easiest improved home heating hack there is. If you have a fan in your home, you’re in luck! Throw that sucker in reverse. Of course, it won’t suddenly blow hot air instead, but it will help pull any warm air that might be trapped up along the ceiling down to you.

  • Carpets

Those thick bear skin rugs you see couples always spooning on in the movies might be cheesy, but they actually work. Don’t run out and buy one exactly like it. Just any carpet or rug will do in common areas of your home you’d like a bit warmer.

  • Draft stoppers

Just like weatherstripping, draft stoppers are something you can buy (or make) to help eliminate hot air from escaping under your home’s doors. It usually consists of a tube-shaped cloth that spans the length of the bottom of your door and is filled with different styles of insulated materials. You could also just hack it and roll up a blanket to fit along the bottom of your door too.

  • Cook more

This improved heating hack is not only better for you, but it’s easy too. Running the stove or oven to make meals saves on the cost of dining out as well as produces excess heat for your home. Think about it, that’s why people don’t like cooking in the summer. Time to use this tip to your advantage.

  • Run appliances (dishwasher, washing machine)

Doing the laundry can give off a bit of heat as well. Plus clothes come out toasty warm if you need a boost of heat while you’re bringing Netflix. And did you know that even when your dishwasher is half full, it still uses less water than if you were to do it by hand? Keep your clothes and dishes clean by running these appliances a bit more often in the winter.

  • Curtain control

While it’s always nice to let the sun in during the day, it can actually help warm your home a bit. Be sure to close them at night though. Better yet, if you have a bit of a budget, you could always check out insulated curtains too.

Improved Heating Hacks Not Enough?

Call Novel Care Obviously doing it yourself is a creative way to get through especially cold nights, but it’s important to be safe. If you ever need emergency repair service, call 905-737-5016  anytime. We’re available 24/7 and can be there within hours of a problem to assess the situation. Put our 30 years of experience to work for you.

/by
, ,

Toronto Home Heating Options You Should Know About

My name is Susan and I recently had to replace the furnace in my home because it was old, noisy and inefficient. I’m a relatively new homeowner (moving into my first home earlier this year), so naturally, I’m not too familiar with Toronto home heating options. Do I go with a new furnace or boiler or maybe a combi-boiler – whatever that is. Luckily, someone told me about Novel Care and this is how my experience learning about Toronto Home Heating Options went.

My Toronto Home Heating Options Weren’t So Confusing

I called Novel Care as soon as I started experiencing issues with my heating system. This was probably late in the winter months or maybe even early spring, so I wasn’t in desperate need of heat on a daily basis. When I told them about how the heat wasn’t really coming in steady, they were able to send out someone to assess the situation right away.

Now, I already knew ahead of time that my heating would need to be replaced sooner than later when I moved in – courtesy of my realtor. Apparently the unit was pushing 20 years old and even though it was running smooth, furnaces don’t normally last much longer than that. Sure enough, I was right.

Once Novel Care arrived, we had a much more detailed discussion about my furnace as well as how much a novice I am when it comes to being a homeowner. My technician, Dave, was very sympathetic to my situation and started to lay out my Toronto home heating options going forward.

To keep things simple here, it was really only 2 options that I needed. I have a bigger home that was left to me by my uncle, so combi boilers and ductless units didn’t make much sense to use. They’re better for smaller space living – like condos. That left me with either a boiler or a new furnace. Since I already had the ductwork in place, Dave recommended a new furnace. Boilers are great Toronto home heating options too but in this specific case, a furnace made sense financially. No point in letting all that ductwork go to waste.

I’m very grateful for the team at Novel Care. I’m still learning more and more about the basic systems in my home, but having this team respond quickly to my call and walk me through my options was something I really appreciate. I’d recommend Novel Care any day.

Novel Care Handles A Variety Of Toronto Home Heating Options

With more than 35 years of experience under our belts, you can rely on our team to help with your furnace, boiler, combi boiler, ductless or heat pump unit and much more. Our team has seen, maintained and repaired it all. Just give us a call at 905-737-5016 and we’d be happy to help.

/by