With winter in full gear and much of the country getting hit with snow storms, most people are looking for ways in which to lower their heating costs while still keeping warm. Staying warm for less money is doable but, it will require making a few changes and perhaps even spending money to save money long term.
Staying warm in winter for less can be accomplished in various ways. Dressing warm even when inside lets you keep your house at a lower temperature which will mean that you use less heat saving you money. Bundle up and keep your thermostat at 60 or below. Stopping those drafts of cold air from entering the house will help you lower your heating bill too. Check all your doors and windows for drafts, if you find any see if you can seal them off by using draft stoppers on your doors and windows. Check out my no sew draft snake tutorial. Stretching plastic on the inside and outside of your windows, such as bubble wrap and taping it to the frame will stop those drafts from cracks in the windows entering your house. It is also a great way to reuse bubble wrap from all your Amazon Prime orders.
If there are any unused rooms or less frequently used rooms in the house, you could close the heating vents in those rooms and also keep the doors closed. If you have ceiling fans in your house they should run at a low speed in a clockwise direction. Most fans have a switch that allows you to change the direction it turns. This not only helps to circulate the air but also helps in forcing the heat from near the ceiling to circulate in the room keeping it warmer. On sunny days draw back the drapes or thermal curtains so that the sunlight can warm the room.
If you spend much of your time in one room use an electric radiator and lower the thermostat in the rest of the house. This will save you from having to keep the whole house heated when you are not using much of the space. At nights you could lower the thermostat and use an extra blanket to cover yourself.
Depending on your fuel source for your furnace, you could change the heating source, fuel oil and propane are very expensive fuels to use, it may be cheaper to switch your furnace to natural gas and if that is not possible looking into using a wood stove can save you a bundle in terms of heating costs. The best part of using a wood stove is that if you cut the wood yourself you can save a lot of money in fuel costs while keeping toasty warm.
By using some or all of these suggestions you can stay warm while spending less money which will result your being able to save a little more for a rainy day.
