Take Control Of Your Heating Bills This Winter

It’s almost that time of year again, where the days seem shorter, the air seems cooler and winter seems to be looming. Are you already dreading your winter heating bills? Well, fear not. Here are a few easy, stress-free tips that you can follow, which will help you conserve energy and save money this winter, without breaking the bank to employ them:

• Dress yourself and your home warmly: Wear sweaters, fuzzy socks and slippers, and you’ll be able to turn down your heat a few degrees. You also can put a warm rug on hardwood and tile floors, and a comfy blanket over the couch, with which to cuddle.
• Break out the plastic: No, not your credit card. You can pick up window and door kits to plastic up unused causes of drafts. If you don’t want to spend $5 on a window kit, hang blankets over windows and doors that you won’t be opening instead.
• Turn down your heating at night and when no one is home. Why not invest in a programmable thermostat, so you can set it to heat up your home in the morning shortly before you wake up, and then shortly before you come home from being out and about.
• Crack the oven: Been cooking? Oven still hot? Why not leave the door open a crack, so you can benefit from that heat?
• Use space heaters wisely: If you’re using space heaters, only switch on what you need in the particular room you’re in, so you don’t waste energy.
• Apply caulk or weatherstripping: Seal any cracks around your windows or doors with caulk or weatherstripping. It’s cheap, easy, and keeps your heat in, and winter’s cold air out.
• Cover up the attic door or hatch with anything on hand, including pieces of plastic or insulation, old blankets, weather stripping, or even old shirts. This can help banish drafts from unconditioned portions of your home.

These tips won’t save you thousands of dollars, and don’t have quite the same effect as new windows, or a furnace upgrade, but you’d be surprised how the pennies that they save you will add up quickly. Why not give it a try? For more advice on home comfort in the northwest Arkansas area this winter, contact Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Northwest Arkansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about heating bills and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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