When the temperatures drop down, there are a number of ways that you can bring down your heating costs and stay nice and warm.
Decorate For Warmth
Think about putting rugs on your floors and flannel sheets on your bed. You can even use insulated curtains for your windows and warm blankets for your sofa. Whenever it is cold outside, nothing will save you more money than having a home that is outfitted with accessories that are warm and cozy.
Use Free Solar Heating
During the day, open up your curtains to let the sun shine in so that it warms your home. At night, be sure to close the curtains so that you can trap the heat inside.
Ethanol Fireplaces
Another great way to save on energy is to utilise ethanol fireplaces. They are efficient, greener and the smarter heating option for a fireplace in your home.
Cut Back On Use Of Kitchen And Bathroom Fans
Even though these fans may suck out any of the undesirable smells in your room, they can also suck out the hot hair.
Regular Filter Changes
Dirty filters are going to make your heat pump or furnace work a lot harder. This can lead to some scary numbers when you look at your heating bill. Try to swap your filter out once a month during the season of use.
Use Your Ceiling Fans
Hot air is known to rise. Think about running your ceiling fan in reverse so that you can bring the air back down to where you are at floor level.
Turning Down The Thermostat
When you are ready to go to bed at night, you can turn your thermostat own a few degrees cooler. You can get warm under the blankets and save money on your heating bill. There are also some great programmable thermostats that will do the work for you.
Have An Energy Audit
You are not going to find a lot of doctors that will make a house call today. However, there are energy auditors that you can have come out to your location to find out if you are doing all that you can to save money and make your home the most efficient that it can possibly be.
Insulation
The chances are good that you do not have the right amount of insulation for your home. By simply going to the website for the Department Of Energy, you can use their insulation tool to learn about what you should have and how you can start beefing it up.
Clear Your Vents
Make sure that there it nothing covering your heater vents. This includes moving any furniture, belongings and debris so that you will have a clear space for air to come out.
What About Your Damper?
Keep your fireplace damper closed whenever it is not in use. This will keep all of the warm air inside and keep you and your family much warmer.
Get A Much Needed Tune-Up
You should always have your furnace checked on a regular basis to be sure that it is running at peak level. A simple call to a professional will be all that you need.
Dress Those Ducts
Heat loss is something that can happen to the best of us. So, always be sure that you are taking good care of your heat ducts and wrapping them tight so that you are not losing any precious warm air.
We have an old, old house with hot water heat. I hear it’s efficient, and it’s nice to prop my feet on the radiator when I’m reading blogs! I never thought about using the ceiling fans to keep heat down. I always thought of them as a summer thing. I’ll try it!