The Interior Door Mistake That's Making It Harder To Heat Your Home

Heating your home in the winter is necessary, but it comes at a price. Energy bills can get expensive, so you want to make sure you're doing everything in your power (pun intended) to minimize consumption. If you're finding it difficult to heat your home and stay within budget, consider your interior airflow. While it might seem like a smart idea to shut yourself into the room you want to keep warm, this can actually be counterintuitive. If you're looking for ways to help reduce your energy costs at home, you should actually leave your interior doors open.

Closing your door might make it feel like your room is getting warmer, but this is only a temporary solution. The air will become pressurized and try to escape wherever it can. That then results in the returning air being sourced from unwanted areas like your chimney or furnace. If you don't want an unnecessarily drafty home, this is a pitfall you'll want to avoid. It will also cause your HVAC system to work harder to overcompensate for an air pressure imbalance.

Leaving your interior doors open is a costly home heating mistake you should avoid this winter, but it can have other benefits besides saving money. Airflow not only reduces energy costs, but it can also improve the overall air quality. Proper circulation is essential to preventing stagnant air. If air is being sourced from places other than your HVAC, that means you are breathing in unfiltered air. Most HVAC systems are equipped to filter dust, pollen, pet dander, and other allergens. They can also filter carbon monoxide, which is another safety reason to leave your doors open. 

However, there are times when shutting your interior doors can be beneficial. The term "close before you doze" was coined as part of public fire safety education. This means that before you go to bed, you should shut your interior doors. In the event of a fire, closed doors can help to protect you from smoke inhalation or give you more time to escape. So while you should keep your doors open to save money on heating during the day, you should always close your doors before going to sleep as a precaution. If you're wondering about the most efficient way to heat your home, discover whether a space heater is cheaper to run than central heat.