10 Easy Tips To Save Money On Your Home Heating Bills

With energy costs higher than they have ever been in recent history, it pays to find ways to reduce your home heating costs. I put together some tips that are easy, cost effective and will all add up to reduce your home heating bills by a significant amount! You don’t need to be Bob Villa either. Some take just a minute or two. Even small changes will add up to big savings over the course of this cold winter!

Here are the 10 tips that I have personally used to save on my home heating costs:

1. Head down to the basement and reduce the setting on your hot water thermostat by about 10 degrees. I wouldn’t go below 120-115 degrees. The adjustment dial is typically a red knob towards the bottom of the water tank.

2. While you are downstairs, make sure you have clean filters for your central air-heating unit. A dirty and clogged filter will force your unit to work much harder and stay on longer as it struggles to fresh air through the clogged filter to heat the rest of your house.

3. Check your air ducts for gaps, leaks or disconnects. If you have any disconnects or leaks in your ductwork, your heating bills could be 25% higher than they need to be if these gaps were sealed. If you can’t do this on your own, hire a professional. This expert can also clean your ducts for added efficiency.

4. Adjust your thermostat a few degrees lower. Believe me, this really adds up. It may not seem like much of a difference to you, but you will notice the difference when you get a lower bill each month!

5. While we are on the subject of thermostats, consider replacing yours if it is not programmable. The reason is, you can set the thermostat so the temperature setting in your house is lower at night than during the day, when you are awake. Also, if you are away at work during the day, you can set it for a lower temperature and have it programmed to start heating the house a little bit before you come home. These aren’t too expensive and are easy to install and configure yourself.

6. Insulate your attic. Heat rises, right? If your attic isn’t properly insulated, all of the heat in your house (and your money) goes right through the roof. Literally! This does require some effort on your part, but following through on this tip will save you a ton of money over the years. Measure the square footage of your attic and buy rolls of insulation, greater than R-13 but no higher than R-30. Wear a mask and gloves when working with insulation because it irritates the skin.

7. Find those leaks and cracks! If you were to add up all of the small cracks and holes in your house, they would probably add up to a small window, wide open, letting cold air in and hot air out. Take the time to find gaps in windows, doors, pipes, electrical and phone lines, your dryer duct and much more. Put weather-strips around your doors and windows. You can buy insulation foam that comes in a can with a straw at the top that allows you to fill in tight spaces. It expands to fill even the smallest cracks. Of all of the tasks, this was the most fun finding and filling these gaps all around the house.

8. Close the vents in rooms that you do not use. I have one room in my house that is not currently in use. I shut the hot air ducts and made sure the windows and doors were properly sealed to limit energy leakage. Why waste your money heating up extra square footage of your house that you don’t even use?

9. Open drapes and shades for all of your windows during the day to let the sun heat your home. In the evening, pull them back down for added insulation. It is amazing how much direct sunlight streaming into your home helps to heat things up.

10. Your fireplace can help and hurt your heating costs. If you are not using your fireplace, make sure the damper is closed. When it is closed, inspect the damper and feel if cold air is still leaking in. If you are using your fireplace, make sure the heating in the rest of your house is reduced or turned off.

Taking the time to implement these tips will drastically reduce your home heating bills. You can get most of them done in just one day, but the payoff will last for as long as you live there! I followed through on each one of these tips and the following winter, my bills were about 25% lower, saving about $100 a month! So roll up your sleeves follow these tips and start saving money on your heating costs!

Window Replacement

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Window Treatments Help Homeowners Save Money

You might not think twice about how much energy you are conserving or wasting in your home - until you get your gas or electric bill.

With energy prices continuing to skyrocket from year to year, and utility companies passing along the costs to their customers, many homeowners are starting to take a harder look at ways to protect their pocketbooks.

A few simple steps now can go a long way toward reducing your energy costs and keeping them low for the foreseeable future. The following tips provided by Comfortex BlindCrafter Centers will help you conserve energy in your home and save money on your heating and cooling bills.

* Install insulating window treatments like Comfortex Cellular Shades. These innovative window treatments trap air between the shade and window, which in turn keeps warm air from escaping through your windows during the winter, and keeps hot air from entering your home during the summer.

* Caulk cracks and holes in your windows or install weather stripping to ensure that no cold or hot air escapes.

* During the winter, allow those rare sunny days to warm your house by opening window shades and blinds, but remember to close them at night.

* Install storm windows. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, storm windows can reduce heat loss through your windows by up to 50 percent.

* Move furniture away from the heat source. Blocking a vent makes the system work harder.

* Keep your fireplace damper closed when not in use.


Window Replacement

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Replacement Windows Information

Whether you want to replace your cold, drafty windows or simply want to enhance the overall appearance of your home, you will have to go in for replacement windows even though choosing the right replacement windows is a burdensome task and involves a significant investment.

Replacement windows squeeze in air between two panes of glass, providing a layer between the inside of your home and the weather outside. Thus, replacement windows insulate your home from extremes of both hot and cold. And at the same time reduce your home’s energy costs and change its decor.

Replacement windows come in many shapes, sizes, and styles to match your home. Basically, there are four types of replacement windows: (i) replacement windows add light and style to your home; (ii) skylights brighten the room and add an interesting design element; (iii) sliding doors are another form of replacement windows; and (iv) the slider helps you save on energy, especially in summer, because you can leave the screened portion open.

Before you buy replacement windows, you need to decide how you want them to open. Again you have various choices, such as: (a) casement windows with vertical hinges that swing in or out by winding a handle; (b) double or single hung types made of two cases that slide up and down; (c) sliding windows that move horizontally; and (d) plain fixed form windows that don’t open at all, but let the light come in.

You also need to see how your replacement windows have been fabricated to make sure they match with the architecture of your home and provide maximum insulation. You can now choose from some recent manufacturing developments like vinyl and fiberglass that are highly insulating.

Vinyl windows are a popular and economical alternative to aluminum, wood, and fiberglass, because they are energy efficient, easy to install, and effortless to maintain. Made from a plastic called polyvinyl chloride, or PVC they provide a superb degree of insulation. Moreover, they require practically no maintenance because their durable surfaces are already stained, finished, and sealed. The exterior casing of vinyl windows doesn't fade or wear under ultraviolet sunlight, making them far more durable than aluminum or wood.

For the purpose of energy efficiency, you can go in for triple-pane windows that have three pieces of glass with layers of air between them. Air absorbs heat and cold much better than glass. You can further reduce air conditioning and heating costs if you replace the air with a gas called argon.

While shopping for replacement windows, visit many showrooms and make sure that the window is 'user friendly'. Try it out to see if it opens and closes with ease. You must remove all your doubts before scheduling an installation. Also, look for certification information from the National Fenestration Rating Council to compare the energy efficiency of each brand and style of window. Don’t forget to see the actual warranty before making your purchase and understand all the details.

Replacement windows involve heavy expenditure, so it is important you make an informed and confident decision based on the needs of your house, the kind of windows to be replaced, and your budget constraints.


Window Replacement

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