The onset of colder months does not necessarily mean an increase in income. So, many people have no cold-weather stash to invest in making their homes more energy-efficient. All is not lost, though. Here are twenty small fixes for high heating bills that can help you rage against the empty-wallet blues – when practiced regularly:
-Seal cracks around doors and windows to block cold air out. If you do not have money to replace worn weather strips or caulk to seal openings, roll old towels and place them at the bottoms of doors.
-Make sure the attic in your home is well-ventilated, in order to prevent moisture, which can often find its way to your ceilings and make rooms harder to heat. Crack a window upstairs if you must, but make sure the attic is not causing damage.
-Change heating air filters regularly. It may take some trial and error to discover just how much time passes before your filters need changing, but start with an average change time of two to three months. Monitor your filters to see if you need less of a time lapse.
-Use energy-saving settings on all of your appliances (heating, refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher). Keep the heat thermostat set at 68 degrees, no matter how tempted you are to ease it higher.
-Make sure the vents inside your home are not covered – no matter how ugly you think they are. Beautiful furniture will not keep your house warm. Move chairs and tables so that there are no obstructions to the vents.
-Set the temperature on your water heater at 120 degrees. Most heaters register at about 140 degrees, but your bill could benefit from the lower setting.
-Once a year, drain off a pail of hot water from your water heater to get rid of sediment. Over time, these deposits will affect how well the water heater runs.
-Shut off rooms that are not in use. Basements, guest bedrooms, game rooms and laundry rooms are prime candidates for shut-off. If you live alone, you can shut off several rooms of your house and focus on heating only the main rooms where you do your daily routines: kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room.
-Avoid opening the garage door except when you are warming the car or leaving and returning home. This door is the large gaping hole in your house and not only causes you to lose a lot of energy, but also makes you lose it quickly.
-Wear socks and sweaters and use extra blankets as an alternative to turning up the temperature on your thermostat. It may make you feel a bit bulky, but it keeps you warm and saves the cost of raising the temperature.
-Keep your freezer and refrigerator full of food. It takes more energy to cool am empty ice box.
-Do not run the dishwasher or washing machine until you have a full load of dishes or clothes. Also, instead of running the drying cycle on your dishwasher, let dishes air dry or take them out and dry them with a towel. The good old-fashioned way of dish duty still works.
-Unplug appliances that are not in use. Include cell phone chargers, curling irons, hair dryers, microwaves, electric toothbrushes – anything that consumes energy.
-Use kitchen or bathroom fans rarely. Though they do serve the purpose of removing foul smelling or thickly fumed air, they also suck the warm air out of homes. Deal with the smells in order to conserve heat.
-To cut down on overall energy consumption, use a microwave or small toaster oven as an alternative to the oven. Small tabletop grills are also good when used safely. You can also cut down on the number of times you use the oven. Try making sandwiches for lunch, doing cold cereal for breakfast and using the stove only for dinner. Also, do not continually open the oven door while food is cooking. Opening the door drops the temperature by up to 100 degrees and the oven uses more energy to reheat. Use a timer, if needed, to prevent peeking.
-When preparing to store leftovers in the refrigerator, allow food to cool down to room temperature. If the food is too hot, it will raise the temperature inside of the refrigerator and require more energy to cool. Be reasonable, though, about how long you allow food to cool to avoid spoiling.
-Convince other family members to take 10-minute showers instead of baths, which require twice as much hot water.
-Be mindful of energy when washing and drying clothes. Instead of using hot water to wash, use warm or cold settings and always rinse with cold. Research reveals that about 80 percent of the energy used for washing clothes comes from heating the water. For dryers, clean lint traps after each use and never overload, which makes them work harder and use more energy. Also, avoid letting clothes sit in the dryer. The warm air in the dryer after a cycle is a booster and requires less energy when you take clothes out as soon as they are dry and run another dry cycle for another load of wet clothes.
-Since dirt absorbs light, keep light bulbs and fixtures clean. Dirty bulbs block the emission of light and waste energy.
-Open blinds and curtains during the day to let the sun help heat your house. Continuing the same logic of clean light bulbs, keep your windows clean in order to create an optimum entrance for sunlight. Make sure curtains and blinds are closed at night to prevent warm air from escaping.