Fall is in full swing and before you know it, winter will be upon us and with that increased heating. This means more money spent on you electricity bill, especially since the costs of energy are on the rise and it doesn’t look like they will go down any time soon. However, winter doesn’t have to break your budget since there are a few easy steps you can take to prepare your home for the upcoming season of cold that not only will keep you and your family warm but save you money as well.
Here are a few tips for lowering your energy costs:
- Weatherproof you windows—by eliminating as many leaks as possible (for more tips on how to do it, go to “Weatherproof Your Windows”). Air getting inside you house through windows and doors contributes to a substantial heat loss during winter.
- Switch to CFLs—(if you haven’t yet). Because the days are shorter, we tend to have lights on for longer periods of time in winter, which adds to your electrical bill. However, if you replace your incandescent bulbs with the compact fluorescent ones, you will actually save money in the long run.
- Turn you thermostat down—turning down the heat while you’re away (e.g. at work, school etc) or sleeping will give you a nice return in just a few weeks.
- Have an energy audit—this will help you establish how much energy you use and where you can save it by learning how your house fares in various areas, e.g. whether your windows and doors are leaky, whether you water heater uses more energy than necessary and how you can lower it etc.
Implementing these few easy tricks will not only save you money (and who doesn’t like that?!) but make your winter a little less stressful…
