Here are three energy-efficient improvements your clients can make to add value to their oil-heated home:

Annual maintenance service

When it comes to improving the energy efficiency of an oil-heated home, one of the best things homeowners can do is schedule an annual heating system tune-up. A well-maintained system will operate at peak efficiency and that means possible energy savings of 5% or as much as 10% in some cases. If your client spends $2,000 a year on fuel, a tune-up could save them $100 each year. Regular service can also prevent breakdowns during extreme cold. Spring and summer are the best times to get a tune-up done because your clients can beat the fall rush—when everyone starts calling in for equipment service.

Smart thermostats

This is a great addition for an oil-heated home. A Wi-Fi enabled thermostat allows your client to view and change temperature settings, check local weather conditions and more, all from their smartphone, computer or tablet. Once the smart thermostat gets installed, your client registers it online. This enables access from any location. If clients are away from home, they can use their phone or tablet to adjust the temperature setting so their home is at the perfect temperature when they arrive. Some thermostat models even allow you to adjust temperatures to your comfort and over the next few days your thermostat will “remember” the temperatures you like and build a schedule based on your patterns. Now, that’s pretty smart—and it saves your client on both heating and cooling costs too!

Insulation

During the record cold wave in January, many people couldn’t get the temperature of their house as high as the thermostat setting. One reason could be traced to a heating system’s inefficiency. Another common reason for a chilly home is poor insulation levels. In the average home, about one-third of heat loss occurs through the ceilings, which should have a minimum of six inches of quality thermal insulation to keep heat inside the home, where it belongs. Clients can also use the spring and summer seasons to take care of sealing, caulking and weather-stripping gaps around windows, doors and piping so they can be ready to stay next winter. This will save them on air conditioning costs as well.