How Can I Save on Heating Costs This Winter?

It’s that time of year once again; the temperature outside drops, the thermostat rises – and your heating bill rises right alongside it! We all want to keep our homes warm when it’s cold out, but with rising costs, you might be a little hesitant to turn the heat up. It doesn’t have to be that way, though! USALLIANCE is here to help by providing you some tips and tricks that you can use this winter to keep your home warm without paying sky-high heating bills. Some of these are simple tips that you can start using today, others require a little bit of planning or investment, but all of them can help you turn down the heat on your wallet without doing the same inside your home.

Seal All Leaky Doors and Windows

The first thing to do is to make sure your house is leak-proof. Especially if you have an older house or are renting an older apartment, air leaks around your doors and windows could be letting your heat seep outside – making your home colder AND costing you additional money in heating! To test your doors and windows for leaks, light a candle and hold it near each window and door in your home to see if the flame blows in a specific direction. If the flame moves and flickers, then there’s a leak that needs to be sealed. Carefully seal any gaps and cracks with weatherstripping or caulk, or you can cover leaky windows with insulation sheets and put draft stoppers under doorways. Don’t let that warm air escape your home!

Invest in a Smart Thermostat

A smart thermostat can be controlled through a connected device so you can adjust the temperature from wherever you are. If the kids accidentally leave the heat on while nobody is home or you forgot to turn it down before you left for work, you no longer need to just grit your teeth and accept that needless increase to your bill! Simply pull out your phone, open the app, and turn the heat down while you’re on the go. Additionally, you can set a smart thermostat to automatically adjust temperature during specific times of the day so you don’t even need to worry about it. Wouldn’t it be nice to come home to a warm home without wasting money heating an empty house all day?

Insulate Yourself and Your Home

We’ve already discussed sealing leaky windows and doors, but you can do even more to insulate your home. Consider adding rugs to your hard floors and hanging curtains over your windows to help keep the cold air out. Don’t limit the insulation to just your house though – insulate yourself as well! By dressing in layers and keeping some warm sweaters or sweatshirts handy, you can keep cozy without blasting the thermostat all winter.

Have Your Furnace professionally inspected

If you have an older furnace or you haven’t had it inspected in a while, that can be a great place to start if you’re looking to improve heating efficiency. Calling a professional to inspect your furnace can pay for itself in mere months. They may tell you that your furnace simply needs a thorough cleaning to significantly improve performance, which can save you money not just on monthly bills but on replacing your furnace unnecessarily. Sometimes, you may indeed need to replace your furnace, which may be a large expense, but think about how much additional money you would be wasting by constantly increasing the temperature on a broken-down furnace that wouldn’t heat your home properly no matter how high you push it!

Let the Sunshine in

Don’t be afraid to take advantage of Mother Nature’s furnace – the sun! Open the shades when it’s sunny out and let the sun’s rays heat up your living space. It’s simple, quick, and completely free, so whenever you get a sunny winters day, make sure you’re using it to your advantage. After all, there aren’t many hours of daylight during the winter, so get them when you can! Just be sure to close the curtains again at night to keep the cold night air out.

Heat Selectively

We’ve already touched on not wasting money heating the house when nobody is home, but you can take this tip one step further. If you’ve got a large home and not many people living there, you’re probably spending money to heat unused spaces. If nobody is in a certain area of the house that has its own heat control, make sure you’re not wasting money in there. You can also consider using space heaters to warm up specific areas of your home instead of turning on an entire heating zone. You can also close the doors and vents of unused rooms that don’t need heating to limit the amount of space that is heated, and therefore how much it costs to heat it.

The cost of heating the house vs the comfort of your home is a constant battle that many of us face every winter. We all want to be warm and cozy inside while the winter winds whip outside, but the cost of heating bills through the winter can get crazy. Don’t let your heating bill burn through your budget! Use these tips to save on heating costs this winter so that you can keep warm at home without breaking the bank.