Energy-Saving Tips for Heating Your Home

If you care about the environment, chances are you try to conserve as much energy as possible. While it’s easy to make small changes, like turning off lights that aren’t in use, or switching to compact fluorescent bulbs, at this time of year conservation can be a little trickier. As the temperatures outside drop, most of our thermostats go up. Here are some helpful, and easy, tips for conserving heating fuel without suffering from hypothermia.

• Keep your thermostat between 65 and 70 degrees when you’re home and awake, and 58 degrees when away for more than two hours. Use more blankets at night to keep your body warm enough without warming your whole home. (Households with elderly residents or very young children should be kept a bit warmer at night, though).

• Lower the thermostats on your water heater to the lowest comfortable level. (A setting of 120 degrees is about right for most people). Each 10-degree decrease saves five percent on water heating costs!

• Seal up any visible cracks and gaps in your house, install adequate insulation, check that ducts are sealed, and choose energy efficient windows when replacing old ones. A home energy auditor can help to identify poorly insulated areas and evaluate the energy efficiency of your home.

• Be sure your attic is properly ventilated, and insulated. A warm attic steals heat from the rest of the house, and does no one any good.

• Keeping your registers or radiators clean can make your home warmer with less energy, and save you money. Dust acts like an insulating blanket, trapping the heat.

• Your radiators will also heat more efficiently if you place a piece of aluminum foil behind each one. The foil reflects heat back into the room, instead of allowing it to be absorbed into the wall.

• To promote cleaner air when burning wood in your fireplace or woodstove, be sure that the wood you use is 100% untreated, has been seasoned for at least nine months, and is not painted.

• On the coldest nights, pull down window shades to keep heat from escaping. During the day, keep blinds and drapes open to let in the sunshine. Keep shrubs around your home trimmed back, so they don’t block the sun from entering your windows.

• Shut off the heat in unused rooms. It’s simple, just shut off the radiator valve or close the vent. Closing off a spare room in winter will be more effective if you stuff a plastic dry cleaner bag under the door to keep the cold air from escaping into the house.

• If you have a fireplace, close the dampers when it’s not in use.

• Insulate your electrical outlets. One of the most overlooked ways cold air can get into your house is through the outlets. Remove the outlet covers and insert insulation pads underneath. Cap off any outlets that are not being used.

Be sure to check for more helpful earth-friendly tips on our Home & Garden page!

Tags: energy, winter, heating, conservation, green, Farmers’ Almanac