photo credit: doortoriver

Well, Sunday night I finally caved and turned on our heater.  The low was predicted to be in the upper 30s and there was a frost warning.  There were a few months when we had $200+ heating bills and the price of natural gas and heating oil is set to rise again this year.  Here are a few of the things we do in order to reduce our heating bill.

• Delay turning on the heat – While it has been somewhat cool at night, we haven’t used the heat.  We’ve just worn warm clothes (sweats and long-sleeve T-shirts) around the house.  68 degrees indoors isn’t unpleasant if you’re dressed properly.
• Clean or replace your air filters – Dirty filters make it that much harder for warm air to be circulated throughout your home.  Check your air filters monthly.
• Check the furnace – Along the same lines, be sure to check (or hire a professional to inspect) your furnace to ensure it’s in good working order.
• Don’t block the vents – Some homes have vents on the floor.  Be sure these aren’t under furniture or rugs.  These reduces the amount of warm air being circulated while causing your furnace to work harder.
• Close the vents and doors in unused rooms – There’s no reason to pay to heat rooms that you don’t use.
• Consider a space heater – The upstairs of our home is only bedrooms and the laundry room.  Because we’re a two person household, the only rooms we used upstairs are our bedroom and adjacent office.  Therefore, I keep the heat set low and run a space heater when I’m in the office.  This keeps me warm without running the heat all evening.
• Install a programmable thermostat – Using your heat only when you’re home and awake can save you lots of money.  We have our heat set to come on at 5:45am (so it’s warm when we rise at 6:00am) and turn off at 7:00am (when we leave the house).  Then it comes back on again at 5:45pm (in anticipation of our arrival at 6:00pm) and off again at 11:00pm (when we’re in bed).  Using the heat only 6.5 hours per day (an average weekday) is much more cost-effective than letting it run all day long.
• Lower the temperature – I’m fairly cold-natured but rarely find the need to set the heat above 70 degrees when dressed appropriately.  If you don’t think you can stomach that temperature, consider slowly lowering your thermostat by 1-2 degrees on regular intervals until you find your minimum tolerance level.  In addition, I set the heat to 62 degrees while we sleep.  It may sound frigid but we typically don’t get up in the middle of the night and I like to sleep under a comforter in addition to the sheet.
• Insulate – Last but not least, make sure you have sufficient insulation.  Cost-cutting measures aren’t very effective if a large portion of your heat escapes your home.  If you have an attic, consider an attic tent to seal the opening and prevent heat loss.  Also, consider increasing the amount of insulation in the attic.  Use caulk to seal around drafty window and door frames.

What steps are you taking to save on heating costs this winter?