Date: February 3, 2025
No one can control the weather, though we often wish we could. When temperatures remain freezing for multiple days and weeks in greater Boston, your home heating costs can surge dramatically. This is also the time of the year when boilers and furnaces break down, leading to pricy heating repairs.
The Cubby Oil & Energy team wants to help you moderate your heat-related expenses. In this article, we’ll discuss five essential steps for saving money on your heating costs.
Your home’s “envelope” plays a crucial role in managing energy efficiency. It traps warm air inside while shielding your living space from harsh external conditions. Enhancing this envelope can be as simple as incorporating energy-efficient windows, caulking, door sweeps, and weatherstripping.
Yet, insulation is the most effective way to maintain a stable indoor temperature, reduce noise, improve air quality and lower energy costs over time.
The effectiveness of insulation is measured by its R-value — a higher R-value means better resistance to heat flow. This value depends on factors like the material’s type, thickness and density, along with external conditions such as temperature, aging and moisture. Adding more layers of insulation increases the total R-value, enhancing your home’s ability to resist heat. You can consult Energy Star for detailed R-value recommendations for our region.
The U.S. Department of Energy has found that homeowners can save up to 10% on their heating costs by lowering their thermostat by 7°-10° F for only eight hours a day. You can do this without impacting your home comfort by using a programmable thermostat and scheduling these reductions during sleeping and work hours.
At Cubby Oil & Energy, we proudly deliver Bioheat® fuel. This product is a blend of ultra-low-sulfur heating oil and 100% renewable biodiesel. Not only does Bioheat fuel significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it also lowers your maintenance costs.
You see, this clean-burning fuel leaves far fewer deposits in your heating equipment, so you can generally go longer between service visits. The Cubby service team is happy to discuss your recommended maintenance schedule with our fuel.
When the time comes to arrange a tune-up, please don’t skip it. Regular maintenance keeps your boiler or furnace running efficiently and prevents your heating oil consumption from inching up year after year. Additionally, a tune-up is a good opportunity for our technician to look for lingering issues with your system and fix them preemptively so they don’t cause an expensive breakdown later.
Home heating systems can operate for a long time with proper maintenance and care. However, if your boiler or furnace is over 15 years old, its fuel efficiency might have slipped to 60% or less. You could be wasting 40 cents of every dollar you spend on heating oil.
Upgrading to a new, high-efficiency product can lower your operating costs by 20% or more! Plus, our team can help you qualify for rebates, tax credits and other incentives to lower your upfront costs.
Talk to the Cubby team today about boosting your home’s heating efficiency. We’re more than happy to provide you with a FREE estimate.