• Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable.
• Keep the temperature fairly constant, as frequent changes will utilize more energy by causing unnecessary cycling on and off. Setting back the temperature at night, however, is recommended.
• Clean or replace furnace filters once a month or as needed.
• Oil-fired boilers should be professionally cleaned and tuned once a year.
  

Replacing a gas furnace filter is a very simple task and one that should be one on a regular basis.

What Does the Filter Do?
The filter is designed to clean the air that is drawn into the combustion chamber to mix with the gas. The air drawn into the filter will contain dust and particles that could affect the clean burning of the fuel-air mixture.

Obtain the Right Size Filter

Building and using a waste oil burner can be a great alternative to using conventional heating oil. You must construct the burner with some special considerations, but you can find all of the necessary parts at either your local hardware store or a tool supply house.

It is far beyond the scope of this article to provide you with complete instructions, but we will list the major components required and why they are needed.
 

Preheater

We've all felt the pinch of the rising cost of heating our homes. In fact, the average American family spent between $1200 and $1500 in 2005 to heat their home, so anything you can do to reduce that number is obviously well worth the effort. One thing that can help minimize your heating costs is ensuring your furnace is working efficiently, by giving it a tune up.

A typical home heating (HVAC) system

Sometimes you will have the impression that your furnace is staying on too long or not staying on long enough—when that happens, it is time to look at the furnace thermostat.

What You Will Need:

• Level
• Screwdriver
• Can of compressed air

The Simple Process:

Remove the Face Plate

Find the thermostat control box and remove the front plate. Check to make sure there are no obvious problems like loose wires—use the compressed air to blow away accumulations of dust so you can see better.

A central furnace or boiler's efficiency is measured by annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE). AFUE is a measure of how efficient the appliance is in using fossil fuel (gas or oil) or electricity (for an electric furnace) over a typical year of use.

An all-electric furnace or boiler has no flue loss through a chimney. The AFUE rating for an all-electric furnace or boiler is between 95 and 100 percent. The lower values are for units installed outdoors because they have greater jacket heat loss.