Four Tips for Keeping Your Home Warm at Low Energy Costs

Four Tips for Keeping Your Home Warm at Low Energy Costs

by Ann Harrison

The temperatures have begun to dip near or below freezing, and many people worry about how they can stay warm, while saving money on their energy bills. There are several things you can do to heat your home, and keep your energy costs to a minimum.

Image @ Wikimedia
Image @ Wikimedia

Tip #1: Install a programmable thermostat. Although many people like the ability to adjust the thermostat themselves, a person’s preferred temperature, and forgetting to adjust the temperature at night versus during the day, can cause your energy bill to sky rocket. Having a programmable thermostat, will allow you to choose what temperature you would like your thermostat to be set on during the day, choose your night time temperature, and your thermostat can lower the temperature when you’re away from home.

Tip 2: Use fire wood, if possible. I have an aunt that has a real fireplace, and my parents use a wood burning heater, to keep their house warm in winter. My folks have told me that burning wood to heat your home is less expensive than constantly using space heaters and central heating and air conditioning units. My aunt told me one time, that instead of using her heating unit, she uses her open fireplace to heat her home at night. By the same token, if your house is relatively large, you may want to use fans to circulate the heat from the room where the main heat source is located to the other rooms in the house. However, if your home isn’t equipped to burn fire wood, using an electric fireplace may also save energy and money during the hard, cold, winter.

Tip 3: Use smaller heating units (often called zones), to heat your home. Installing smaller heating units allow the house to be heated in only the rooms that are occupied at any given time. These smaller units can be turned off, when not in use, thus lowering your energy costs. However, if you are renting a house or apartment, I advise you to speak to your landlord, before installing zones, as the property owner may have specifications that tenants must adhere to written in the rental agreement.

Tip 4: Consider reversing the blades on your ceiling fans. If your home has ceiling fans installed, you may use them in the summer time to keep your home cool. But did you know that ceiling fans can keep your house warm in winter, in conjunction with your heating unit? It’s true! Reversing your ceiling fan blades will push the trapped heat down into the rooms of your home that gets trapped in the ceiling, which also keeps your heater from working as hard to heat your house, no matter whether it’s large or small.

For more tips like these, please visit http://freshome.com/2010/11/07/10-ways-to-save-money-heating-your-home/.

About the Author

Ann Harrison is a totally blind author, who grew up in the small town of Rochelle, Georgia, and has moved back to her family home after living in North Georgia for several years. Ann has written many articles of general interest for a number of clients since June of 2010, including the Cordele Dispatch. She has also published a short story entitled “The Big Climb” in Awethology Light. Ann also published a story entitled “The Woods” in December Awethology Light Volume by The #Awethors. She is currently working on several novels, and a self-help book. To read more of Ms. Harrison’s inspirational writings, visit her blog at www.wwannwrites.wordpress.com.

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