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Health & Fitness

3 Toasty Tips to Cut Heating Costs

Get 'em while they're hot - Come get some suggestions for cutting costs this winter.

 

There are many ways to save energy, and money, on heating costs. It’s not hard to find ways to keep warm without breaking the bank. Here in Santa Rosa it doesn’t even get extremely cold, but it gets cold enough to make you take notice. Here are 3 toasty tips to save on heating costs. I follow the thinking that if you take proper steps to reduce your heating bill, the extra money can be better used elsewhere. These actions are mainly common sense, but let’s take a look at them and hopefully you can incorporate these into your lifestyle.

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Related article: 8 Amazing Ways to Save Energy

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Three Ways to Stay Warm:

  1. Warm yourself – Most people seem to think that they need to warm their entire house. Think about it though; at any one time you and your family are not really using a whole lot of your home. The key is to warm yourself and not the entire house. There are several ways to do this: reverse your ceiling fans, lay rugs on bare floors, use electric blankets and heating pads and wear heavier clothing indoors. Keeping yourself warm is a lot cheaper than warming your entire dwelling. Taking the few simple steps listed above you can lower your thermostat to 67 degrees, or maybe even lower, and save tons of energy.
  2. Insulate – I am a firm believer in insulating your home. Keeping your warm air inside and the cold air outside is one of the best ways to save energy. After all, you want to pay to heat your home, not the entire city of Santa Rosa. Check the insulation in walls, attics and crawlspaces. If you need to add some, do so. There is no substitute for insulation. There are also some other things you can do to seal off your home and keep it from losing heat or allowing cold air in. Caulk and weather strip any cracks, crevices and holes. These will be more prevalent around doors, windows and where pipes enter and exit your home. The main idea here is to keep warm air inside where it makes your comfortable and leave the cold air outside where it needs to stay.
  3. Turn if off – Turn the heat off, or way down, at night when you sleep or when you are away. I want to tell you this right now; it does not cost more to re-heat your house than it does to constantly heat it! The idea that it costs more to re-heat your home is just a myth. Take it from an old pro and a guy who knows his heating. Turn your thermostat off or way down when you are gone. This saves a ton of energy.

Small Steps Yield Big Savings

Doing a few small things in your home can help you save energy big time. These actions are simple and will save you a lot of money in heating costs. Santa Rosa is not the North Pole. It does get pretty cold here on occasion and it pays to be ready to do all you can to save energy and money. With all the money you save you might be able to enjoy a night on the town or buy something for your home you really want. Take steps to save energy on heating costs and take the extra money for your enjoyment.

For more helpful information, please come visit the blog at our Affordable Heating and Air website.

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