We didn’t experience cold weather anything like what recently struck the Midwest and Eastern US. However, the intense cold weather can serve as a warning to everyone—many homes do not have proper levels of insulation. The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association estimates that 90% of homes are under-insulated.
Poor insulation means immense amounts of energy go to waste attempting to make up for the heat that escapes through the walls of a home. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a house can save around 15% on its annual heating and cooling bills with better insulation.
Newer building codes have improved insulation, but there are many older buildings still around with subpar heat sealing on them. You might be living in one of those and paying higher bills than you should without realizing it.
As long as the furnace serving your home was correctly sized when it was installed, you can expect to be able to receive the level of heating comfort necessary no matter how cold the outside weather gets. But at some point you may notice a drop in comfort, with some or all of the rooms not receiving the warmth necessary. You may be tempted to push up the thermostat setting higher than normal to compensate, but please don’t. When your furnace is having trouble keeping up, it likely needs repairs—or even a replacement. 
This is a question we hear often from our customers in the Seattle area: “Do you have recommendations for better indoor air quality?” We understand why people ask this: 
You’ve got an ancient water heater in your home. It’s more than 15 or 20 years old, it’s unreliable, the water often doesn’t get hot enough or the hot water runs out too early. And it’s costing a fortune to run. Plus, you’ve noticed spots of rust on it. And maybe a leak…
We offer many home comfort solutions to our customers, and people often think about quality heating and air conditioning first when it comes to comfort. But we’re also focused on providing the best indoor air quality to our customers, and IAQ is critical not only for comfort, but also for health. Better indoor air quality is part of our larger goal to provide “Quality Service for Quality Living!” 
You may have not realized the ductwork hidden in the walls, ceiling, and attic of your house need regular cleaning. Anything that’s disguised as well as the ductwork is something you won’t think about too often, so we understand why duct cleaning may not be a priority that’s popped into your head until now when you started reading this post.
The official start of winter is a month away, although winter temperatures never obey the calendar exactly. You might think because it’s so late in the fall and Thanksgiving is here that you’ve missed the window of opportunity to have your furnace or other home heating system given a good professional inspection and tune-up. But it’s not!
Nobody wants to get sick at any time of the year, but the winter season is when colds and flus can make life extremely miserable—and it’s also the season when they spread faster and can circulate easily around homes that are closed off to the cold outside air.
The gas furnace—it’s probably the type of heating system you have in your home. We say this because the gas furnace is the most popular heater found in homes across the country. Natural gas is readily available (no need to schedule deliveries), less expensive than electricity, and burns hot so furnaces provide a powerful level of warmth able to deal with even the most extreme cold weather.
It’s cooling down as we settle into Seattle’s fall season. Heaters will start turning on in the evenings and maybe stay on longer and longer during the days. But just because your home’s heating system isn’t yet doing its full workload—that will have to wait until January—doesn’t mean it will run without any problems. Your heating system may need repairs at any time, especially if it hasn’t had its regular fall maintenance.