Home Heating Bill Tricks
Where I live the temperature gets low. We are talking like 12 degrees Fahrenheit, before the wind starts collecting its due. Being the apprentice of a Frugal Master (Frank) I have ratched down our heat to 65 (sometimes 68) degrees. Sure, we can do the usual things where we put on ectra layers but personally I just don’t sleep well wearing socks and I simply feel weird sleeping in a hoodie. :-)
So what is my latest trick? Well a little background first…
When its time for bed, the initial 10 minutes of the sheets are about as cold as you can imagine. Then if you happen to move around, you almost have to start over and warm up a new spot. The solution? We put an electric heating blanket in the bed between the sheet and the comforter and we turn it on about 30 minutes before bed time. Boom! When its time to hit the hay, climbing in to a warm bed is awesome. The gas doesn’t get wasted trying to heat a whole hosue when we spend a majority of our time in about 25% of it. And we only have about 30 minutes of heating bill to pay for.
Yea, yea its not that much savings perhaps but its something. And something is better than nothing right? Here are MSNBC’s tips for us:
1. Learn to love socks. If your feet are cold, your whole body will feel cold, so make a point of wearing socks around the house in the winter. The next step if you’re still feeling cold: Bundle up in a sweater or a blanket rather than cranking up the heat.
2. Tap heat that’s there anyway. There are plenty of activities you do around the house that generate warmth, such as cooking a meal or taking a shower. When you shower, keep the bathroom door open so steam spreads to other rooms, and don’t turn a ventilation fan on; it will rapidly remove the warm air you’re hoping to keep around.
3. Lower your thermostat. You likely won’t notice a huge difference if you turn it down just a few degrees, a move that can shave 5 percent to 10 percent off your heating bill. It’s especially wise to turn down the heat whenever you leave your home for several hours.
4. Watch that water heater. It’s also not likely to be noticeable if you turn down the thermostat on your water heater to, say, 120 degrees from about 140 degrees.
5. Consider a programmable thermostat. They cost between $30 and $100, but that’s money you’re sure to make back over the course of a year because your heating bills will drop. A programmable thermostat allows you to adjust the heat on a predetermined schedule, so you can lower the heat when you’re not home or when you’re sleeping.
6. Don’t let heat escape unnecessarily. Keep your doors and windows shut when the heat is on. If your home has a fireplace that you aren’t using, be sure the flue is closed and glass doors are in place to minimize heat loss. In addition to those bathroom ventilation fans, turn kitchen ventilation fans off when they aren’t needed.
7. Call for a checkup. Proper maintenance will help your heating unit run more efficiently. Electric and oil heaters should get professional attention at least once a year and gas heaters every other year. Also, here’s a step you can take all on your own: Remember to check the filters in your heating system and make sure they’re clean and clear. Dirty filters lead to higher heating costs.
8. Keep windows covered when it’s dark outside. This will help you reduce heat loss and keep cold air at bay, especially if you have older windows. But be sure to let in the light during the daytime — those rays of sun will help heat your home.
9. Explore outside. Check the exterior of your heating unit. Avoid stacking anything against the heat pump or draping anything over it. Hose the outside unit down to clear it of dirt, leaves and grass clippings. If your indoor unit appears to have excess water around it, see whether the condensate drain and pan are blocked.
10. Light a candle. Not for warmth, but for the purpose of doing a little sleuth work. Hold the flame near windows, doors and light fixtures and look for smoke moving in a horizontal direction. If you see it, that means you’ve spotted an air leak, and it likely means heat is escaping your home easily. To solve that problem, install some low-cost caulking or weather-stripping, or consider adding some insulating material.
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Comments
These tricks can help you to make a lot of economies in the winter. You must be careful and follow these simple rules if you want to have success with the economies.
I agree. Mr Chiots and I keep our home at 60 during the day and 55 at night. We have an electric blanket we use to heat up the bed and we have a huge thick wool blanket on the bed at night (lovingly referred to as “big nasty”). We also have a programmable thermostat that heats up the house in the morning when we want to get up. As a result our heating bills are only about $30-$40 each month (and we’ve been getting many near 0 days here). We’ve also taken steps to make sure our home is well-insulated and buttoned up tight.
I might add, it’s winter – you should be wearing sweaters and socks around the house. I know people that keep their house cooler in the summer with AC than they keep it in the winter – outrageous.