Saving Money on Utilities over Winter

Cost Friendly Children

If you have kids like I have, you may have to often remind them to turn off the lights in the house.  It takes they say about 2-3 weeks to form a habit - since we are talking about kids - plan for 30 days.
Go on a leave the room turn the lights off campaign.  You can add rewards and penalties - we  used dessert, because if they left their light on, we couldn't afford to buy a special treat.

Also if you have a lot of people in the house and they will be home, or you are having a party -  Turn the thermostats down. Each guest is the equivalent of a 175-watt heater, and a large group will warm up the place without the furnace or the heating units in operation.

Thermostat Love

If you are going to be away for a few hours or for a few days - lower your heat to 55 degrees, at this temp your pipes won't freeze, your plants will live, and you will save a nice chunk of money.  We recently did this on a week long vacation and it was noticeable in the bill.

Bonus:  Whenever you can lower your thermostat dramatically for a few days or more, you’ll save a little on the operation of the refrigerator and freezer, which won’t need to work so hard to maintain their cool.

How low can your thermostats be set? At our house, we’ve gotten accustomed to 65 F as a comfortable norm. We also have 7 people in the house creating heat.  Reduce the heat just 1 degree at a time and try it for a week. Each 1-degree drop for an eight-hour period reduces your fuel bill about one percent. Gradually, you might be able to go down 3 or even 4 degrees comfortably and save a chunk of money.

Once common myth is that when you reduce the thermostat for only a few hours it will take more heat to bring your home back up to the desired temperature. This is not so. You will save money and fuel because your heating system will not have to keep your home so warm. You will use less energy overall even when you warm up your house from a cooler temperature.

 

You can also save money if you have a programmable thermostat, drop the heat about the time you go to bed, and set it to go back up when you would normally get up. 

Weather sealing/stripping around doors, can save money as well.  In the winter don't just shut the windows, if you lock them you get a tighter seal from the inclement weather.

Don't forget to change your filter on your furnace!