The temperatures are dropping. Frost covers your lawn. There’s a crispness to the air and a subtle orange glow to the sunlight as the leaves change color. All signs point to the arrival of fall.

But is it time to fire up the furnace? The forecast has temps ranging from the mid-60s to the lower-40s. You want to know if it’s worth turning on your heating system or if you can go without and save money (and keep your midwestern street cred).

Even though colder weather is creeping in, there are still several ways you can prepare your home for fall temps without turning on your furnace, or at least without needing to run it at full blast. Here are a few ways to prepare your home for a cozy fall season.

Fall Home Preparation: Stay Comfy As the Temperature Drops

1. Use Your Windows

It may seem a little obvious, but windows can help keep your home warm. Leave your curtains up when the sun’s out and let the heat in. If it’s warm enough during the day, you can even have the windows open to draw the warmer air inside. Then close the windows and curtains when the sun goes down to trap that warmth in your house.

2. Light the Fireplace

Relying on Mother Nature isn’t the only way to prepare your home for fall temperatures. If you have a fireplace, whether it’s wood-burning, gas, or electric, fall is the perfect time to put it into use. 

Why use a fireplace unit rather than your furnace? It’s a question of using the right tool for the job. Your home’s furnace can output anywhere from 40,000 to over 200,000 BTUs or British Thermal Units — they have serious heating power that’s likely too much for mild weather. 

Fireplaces, on the other hand, have a BTU output of 7,000 to 60,000 BTUs. Their heat is more gentle than booting up your home’s furnace. If you’re feeling the chill in your home, light your fireplace for some comfortable heat that will chase it away.

3. Turn On Your Ceiling Fans

Fans are usually thought of as cooling devices, not heat. But ceiling fans have a special winter setting that can actually help keep your home comfortable during the colder months. This setting simply switches your fans to a clockwise rotation (versus counterclockwise.) This move draws cool air up into the ceiling and forces warm air down.

Just make sure to wipe off your fan blades before you hit the switch. When fans reverse direction, they shake free all the dust that’s been trapped on top—and then distribute it all over your living spaces. A quick wipe down will prevent the mess while making sure your fans are ready to distribute warm air.

4. Be Mindful of Unused Rooms

The more square footage you have in your home, the more heat you’ll need to warm it up. If you haven’t yet turned on your furnace for the season, keep this in mind and make sure to close off any bedrooms, bathrooms, or dens that aren’t being used. By closing those doors, you’ll help keep the warm air in the areas of your home that you actually use.

Once you turn on the furnace, however, open up those doors nice and wide. This allows the warm air the furnace is distributing through your ductwork to disperse into other areas of the home. If you leave those doors shut, the heat will have nowhere else to go, making your unused rooms the hottest ones in the house.

5. Double Check for Leaks and Insulation

So far on this list, we’ve offered ways to generate additional warmth in your home. But what about keeping that warmth inside? To make sure the heat you have stays put and doesn’t escape, take some extra steps this fall. Check the seals around your windows and doors, adding caulking, insulation or weather stripping as necessary. A chilly draft is merely annoying in the fall, but it’s worth sealing up before winter weather hits.

In fact, sealing air leaks, as well as adding some insulation, can save you up to 10% on your energy bills. Plus, insulating your home’s pipes will help prevent them from freezing overnight. For more ideas on how you can seal up your home and keep the warmth inside, check out our fall maintenance checklist.

Make Furnace Maintenance Part of Your Fall Home Preparation

Fall is filled with mild temperatures that don’t always justify booting up the entire heating system. So, use your fireplace, windows, and fans to your advantage to keep your home warm. The methods above allow you to conserve energy and save your furnace for the days when it’s really needed.

When fall decides to take a turn and dip into those colder temperatures, go through our fall furnace maintenance checklist before turning on your furnace. Or, schedule an annual fall furnace inspection with us and we’ll make sure your furnace is prepped and ready to go once winter hits.