Inexpensive Ways To Cut Your Heating and Electrical Costs

If you've got high heating costs and a few thousand dollars to spare, then a new high efficiency heating system can be a great investment. However, if you aren't looking to put a lot of money into your home right now, there are still many ways you can decrease you heating costs inexpensively.

1) Lower your thermostat

This may be the most frequently given advice for cutting your heating costs. There's no wonder why- it's totally free (unless you have to buy more sweaters). Each degree you lower your thermostat will cut your heating costs by 1-3%. The most common suggestion is to lower your thermostat setting to 68F instead of the most comfortable 72F, but the lower you set it the more you'll save.

2) Get a programmable thermostat

If you leave your thermostat on while nobody's home during the day, and if you don't turn it down a few degrees every night before you go to bed, then you're probably paying too much for heating. A programmable thermostat (cost: under $100) can automatically lower the temperature setting every weekday while you're at work and every night while you sleep. Having the temperature setting lowered to 55F for 8 hours every weekday (don't make it too cold while you're at work or the plumbing might freeze and other household items may be damaged by the cold) and 60F for 8 hours every night will lower your heating costs by about 15% if you previously ran your thermostat at 72F all the time.

3) Keep your furnace's filter clean

Having a very dirty filter can make it harder for your furnace to circulate the air and increase your energy costs. It can even result in more breakdowns. Check your filter every month, except during periods of mild weather, and replace it whenever it becomes light brown with a layer of dust. A furnace with a clean filter will use about 5% less energy than one with a fairly dirty filter.

4) Do it yourself weatherstripping

Most older homes have cracks around windows and doors that allow a significant amount of heat to seep out. Cracks around electrical outlets and vents sticking out of the walls can be other causes of heat loss. Sealing this cracks with caulking and strips of foam can be an easier way to cut a 20 year old home's heating costs by around 10%. Some homes over 40 years old are very leaky and can save as much as 30% on heating by sealing cracks. However, note that sealing leaks can make the air in your home seem less fresh and more stuffy. You can see a how-to weatherstripping video

5) Do it yourself attic insulation

Most homes have sheets or fluffy balls of fiberglass or cellulose insulation in their attics. If you live in the Northern US or Canada, you should have about 15 inches of this insulation. Unless you have a newer more energy efficient home, you probably only have about half of this. For a few hundred dollars, you should be able to buy more sheets of insulation, layer them across most of your attic, and save about 10% on heating costs. Applying insulation in a crawlspace or unfinished basement can also be a investment that quickly pays for itself.

6) Duct insulation

If the air ducts to the registers on your homes lower floor run through the crawlspace, you have an opportunity for energy savings. Your local hardware store will likely have special duct insulation available to cover the 4-7? venting. This will prevent heat from escaping as the air travels through the crawlspace.

7) Lower hot water tank temperature

Near the bottom of your hot water tank, on the gas valve, you should see the thermostat setting dial. This controls what temperature the water is heated up to. It's probably set to around 140F, but lowering it to 120F will save you about $20 a year. Lowering the temperature will basically reduce the amount of hot water available, so you might not want to do this if you frequently run out of hot water already.

8) Install low flow shower heads

In many cases, this will reduce hot water consumption enough to save a family over $100 a year in hot water heating costs.

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