By: Crissy Knibbe
As we head into January with the winter months upon us heavily, I have a few tips to help cut heating costs in your home during the New Year without breaking the bank.
Below you will find nine tips on how to save money on energy bills without breaking the bank. Each tip should cost from nothing to little. Follow these ideas that all of us should have thought of a decade ago, and say good-bye to shocking heating bills.
1. Bundle up! Running around with shorts and a tank top in the middle of winter just doesn't make much sense. Winter is winter because it is cold, act like it even if you're just sitting around the house. Put on a sweater or sweatshirt, wear socks and fuzzy slippers. Place a soft, comfy blanket on the couch to cuddle up in while watching TV, reading or chatting with friends. Put throw rugs on hardwood and tile floors to eliminate the shock of the ice cold surfaces. It doesn't cost anything to wear warmer clothes inside and by doing so you can keep the temperature inside the house a few degrees cooler and save big.
2. Not all doors are used in the winter, nor are the windows, so plastic up the windows and doors that are going to go unused. There are window kits for sale for about $5 per window. These can help to eliminate drafts to keep in the heat! Can't afford the kits or plastic sheeting? Hang blankets to help insulate! If you are creative enough, you can hang it to look shabby chic!
3. Turn the heat down at night and when no one is home. This doesn't mean turn the heat to 40 degrees, but turning it down to 60 overnight or while you're away can make a big difference. Think about it; why keep it 70 degrees when you're either sleeping or out of the house for more than 12 hours a day? You can adjust the thermostat manually for free, but if you want to spend a few bucks a programmable thermostat is a great investment.
4. After baking cookies or making dinner in the oven, leave the door open a crack. There's a lot of heat in that oven, so letting it escape puts the heat to good use by warming up the kitchen and surrounding rooms meaning the furnace has to run a little bit less.
5. Use a space heater only in the current room you are hanging out in. This will take the nip out of the air to make you feel more comfortable without heating all of the other rooms in the house and wasting energy.
6. Use silicone to fill any cracks in doors, windows, etc, including the basement floor and walls. You would be surprised at how much heat is lost through cracks that seem insignificant. A tube of caulk or silicone will only run you a few dollars and it's an easy weekend project.
7. Close any vents going to rooms that are not used regularly. That guest room that sits empty when you don't have any guests? Close the door and the vents. Doing so can easily cut 100-200 square feet off of your energy footprint.
8. Put weather stripping around windows and doors. Weather stripping helps quite a bit, especially in older homes. You'd be surprised how the seals around your doors and windows can deteriorate over time.
9. Cover up the attic entry with plastic, pieces of insulation, old blankets, weather stripping, saran wrap, painter drop cloth, or even a few old shirts. Any of it will help to slow, if not, stop, the drafts and warm air from floating away through your roof. Heat rises and may be getting pulled right up through the attic so you may not notice a cold draft even though your expensive hot air is floating away.
We all want to be conservative when it comes to money and saving energy. Hope these ideas help you on your quest to save the world; even it's just a little bit.If you or someone you know are in danger of losing your home and you don't know where to turn, please call me. I can help you. I take buying and selling real estate seriously and so should you. I am driven to provide the best possible care and service to all my clients, old and new. I am caring, creative and committed to provide the best real estate experience you could have. - Crissy 435-790-1191
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