Congratulations on purchasing a new energy efficient furnace! Now find out how to get the most from your investment - with these helpful tips from Focus on Energy.

Set your fan to "auto"
For greatest savings, Focus on Energy recommends you leave the fan switch on your thermostat set to "auto." Setting the fan to "on" will cause it to run all the time, whether or not heating or cooling is needed. Those extra hours of operation add unnecessary costs to your annual electric bill.

Common assumptions about fan usage
You may have heard about the benefits of continuous fan operation. But does it really improve indoor air quality and save energy? The answers to these and other questions depend on you, your home and how you use the furnace fan. Focus on Energy offers the following advice to ensure you get the most out of your new furnace.

Assumption #1: Your new fan is so efficient that you’ll save energy and money even if you run it continuously. If you set your old fan to auto but run your new fan continuously, you will not save electricity and will likely even use more electricity than your old furnace fan on auto. The chart below shows the average annual electric operating costs in Wisconsin for a standard fan (like your old furnace) and a variable-speed fan (like your new furnace). Comparison of Furnace Fan Electricity Costs   Standard Fan (Old Furnace) Variable-Speed Fan (New Furnace) Continuous Fan Operation $561 $151 Auto Fan Operation $124 $73 Based on statewide average electric rates of $0.12 per kilowatt-hour. Your costs may vary. Assumption #2: Running the fan continuously will improve indoor air quality. If you don’t have allergies or asthma, the chances that any indoor air quality issues will affect you are very slim. So running your fan continuously is only "fixing what isn’t broken." If you do suffer from allergies or asthma, contact your contractor to make sure you have a filter capable of removing the small particulates that aggravate your condition. Then set your fan to auto and see if you notice a difference. If you have seasonal allergies and find that you must run your fan continuously, only run it continuously during the time of year when your allergies are active. If you suffer from dust allergies that escalate after cleaning, run the fan for two hours after cleaning to help remove dust particles. Assumption #3: Running the fan continuously will help maintain a constant temperature throughout your home. While continuous fan operation helps circulate air, you’re not likely to notice a difference in temperature compared to setting the fan on auto. If you do notice a difference in comfort when you run your fan continuously, there are likely other issues affecting your home’s performance - such as too little insulation, leaky windows, poor air sealing and more. A Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® evaluation can help you find and fix these problems to improve your home’s comfort and efficiency. Assumption #4: During the summer, running your fan continuously will reduce humidity in your home and make you feel more comfortable. Continuous fan operation can actually increase the relative humidity in your home when the air conditioner is turned on. While your air conditioner is running, moisture builds up on the coil above the furnace. In order to complete the dehumidification process, this moisture must drip off during the system’s rest period between cooling cycles. If the fan runs continuously, the moving air will re-evaporate this moisture into your home. Your air conditioner will then be forced to remove that moisture again when it turns back on, wasting energy and costing you money. Assumption #5: You will save electricity by reducing the number of power on/off cycles. While there is a brief surge of electricity when the motor turns on, this energy is equivalent to running the motor for only a few seconds. In addition, the more frequent on-and-off cycles will not increase the chances of the motor dying prematurely.

Program your thermostat
An ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostat uses pre-programmed settings to regulate your home's temperature in both summer and winter - and when you are asleep or away. These settings are intended to save energy and money without sacrificing your family's comfort. By properly setting and maintaining the thermostat settings, homeowners can save about $100 a year.

Learn how to program your thermostat for optimum savings in this podcast.

For more information about programmable thermostats and energy efficient heating and cooling equipment, visit Focus on Energy’s Efficient Heating & Cooling page.