Put your house in a scarf!
Heating costs can eat up a lot of money in the colder months, especially in colder climates. There are a number of ways to save money.
1. Turning down the heat is an obvious step but an even better one is turning down the heat and buying a programmable thermostat that turns the heat down for you when you are sleeping and/or away. This way, you can turn up the heat shortly before you get up or get home so you never really feel the temperature change, but you can save a lot by doing this even though you will need to make a small initial investment of a programmable thermostat. You can buy programmable thermostats for around $40-$70 and save between 10% and 20% on your heating costs. When you figure out how much you spend on heating per month, and shave 10%-20% off, that is cash in your pocket!
2. Using humidifiers is not only good for your health but makes the room feel warmer so you can have the temperature at a lower setting.
3. Turn your ceiling fan blades to blow up in the winter, so the air is not blowing on you but blowing the hot air down to you.
4. A lot of heat escapes out of windows. Clear plastic sheeting can be purchased to apply to the windows to form a air barrier to keep warm air in. A very cheap way that I have seen some do this (although it is not beautiful but practical) is to simply take bubble wrap and a spray bottle and squirt water on the window and affix the bubble wrap. Another way to save money if you don't want to spend the money on clear plastic is to cover your window with blankets put up with tacks.
5. Don't use exhaust fans in the winter.
6. There are filters made for dryers so you can blow the dryer air into your house rather than outside. I personally have never found one that keeps the dust down but there may be one out there.
7. You can make your doors draft free with weatherstripping.
8. Open your oven door after baking.
If all of these suggestions are done, it will make a difference on the monthly bill! Pennies turn into dollars and dollars turn into great savings!
Happy Savings!
All of these are really great tips Lynne! I have often wondered how to pump dryer air into the house during the winter, but of course, the dust would be a problem. There are so many "little" things you can do that add up to $$$ for sure! Appreciate all the great suggestions :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! And yes, I would like to find a good dryer solution because the filters I have used in the past have created way too much dust!
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