A dozen simple things you can do
Lower the Thermostat
Install a Programmable Thermostat A programmable thermostat allows you to preset temperatures for different times of the day because you don't need to keep your home at 68° around the clock. Although one shouldn't be used with heat pumps, a programmable thermostat is a real money-saver with air-conditioning as well as with heat. Choose a setting on the low end when you're sleeping or are away and go with a higher setting at other times (see table) for savings of between 10 and 20 percent of your bill. Some units can store up to four temperature settings each day—e.g., morning, day, evening, night. All have a manual override switch. Three models from Hunter Fan are typical. The Set & Save 100 ($30) lets you program one five-day stretch and a two-day period. With the Set & Save 250 ($40), you program one five-day stretch and two other separate days. The Set & Save 350 ($55) provides the most flexibility, with individual programs for all seven days. The units use AA batteries to maintain the display if the power goes off and to hold settings. You can easily install a new thermostat yourself. Always follow manufacturer's instructions, but typically you remove the old thermostat and unscrew the wire leads attached to the terminals on the back. Reattach those wires to the new thermostat's terminals, after inserting mounting screws in the wall, if necessary. (If you have separate heating and A/C units that use the same thermostat, you may find four leads, two for each unit.)
6 a.m.
to 9 a.m. = 75°
An open fireplace damper lets the same amount of heated air escape up the chimney as a wide-open 48-in. window lets out. Make sure your flu is closed when you don't have a fire going. In fact, it is a good idea to reduce the number of times you use your fireplace. A roaring fire exhausts over 20,000 cu. ft. of heated air per hour to the outside. Sure it feels warm by the fire, but every Btu that goes up the chimney is replaced by cold air pulled into the house elsewhere. And all that cold air has to be heated, a costly prospect. Can't resist a fire every few nights? Install a set of glass fireplace doors ($400 to $600). Closing these doors when you go to bed prevents large volumes of heated air in the living space from escaping after the fire has gone out. The Spin on Ceiling Fans Ceiling fans are
everywhere in warm-weather climates. Spinning
counterclockwise, they move air around the room. Not all
energy experts feel it's a good idea to use them in the
heating season (doubters says they cool the air too
much), but the fans do help bring heated air down to
earth in rooms with cathedral or high-sloped ceilings.
However, that's only if you slide the reversing switch on
the side of the motor housing to the winter (clockwise)
position. Then run the fan at its lowest speed. If you
can't reverse the blade rotation or if you think the fan
is cooling off the room too much, leave it off. Move Furniture Away From Vents, Registers and Radiators This sounds like a no-brainer, but many times a couch, chair or bed moved during the summer stays there in winter, blocking the flow of heat into the room. This wastes money and leads to cold rooms. With a forced-air system, blocking a supply or return vent can cause a house-wide pressure imbalance that disrupts the heat flow in the whole system. Stop
the Draft, Close the Door
You can also keep the heat where it's needed by making sure some interior doors, such as those leading to hallways or near stairways, are kept shut. This closes off natural air passageways so they can't act as chimneys, allowing warm air to escape up through the house. Quick-Seal Windows Dead air is a very effective insulator, and you can create a pocket of it by installing clear plastic film across the inside of your windows. Available in kits that contain plastic film and double-sided tape, the plastic becomes nearly invisible when you heat it with a blow-dryer. If you find it unsightly, place the film on windows and patio doors selectively or only in unused rooms. Measure your window before buying; kits vary in size, and they work only with wood, aluminum and vinyl-clad molding. Payback is fast on this inexpensive technique, because heat lost through windows accounts for 10 to 25 percent of your overall heating bill. If you can rattle your windows, they're letting a lot of heat escape around the frames. Seal the open spaces with puttylike rope caulk before shrink wrapping. Press-in-place rope caulk ($5 per window) is mess-free and easy to use, and removing it in the spring is a cinch. But be sure to do a thorough window-sealing and caulking Work the Drapes Got drapes or curtains that block sunlight? Open them during the day to get free solar heat (make sure windows are clean). And then close the curtains just before sunset. Also, consider insulating curtains (around $100 per window). As a general rule, each square foot of window that you insulate at night saves about 1 gal. of oil or nearly 1.5 cu. ft. of gas a year, which means that insulating curtains pay for themselves in around seven years, to say nothing of the added comfort.
Adjust Your Water Heater
Defeat Rapid Cycling Rapid cycling—when a heating system fires on and off—wastes money. It occurs because of a heat-anticipation feature on thermostats that maintains a near-constant room temperature. Most electronic setback thermostats are programmed to act when they sense a 1° to 1.5° drop. If the thermostat is mis-programmed to less than 1°, the heater may go into rapid cycle, firing every three minutes or less to maintain temperature. To stop rapid cycling, make sure the "cycle-rate adjustment" in the thermostat setup mode reads from 1° to 1.5°. If you change it, move it higher. On most mechanical thermostats, the amperage scale is set from 0.1 to 1.2 amps. To defeat rapid cycling, set the arrow one notch higher. Let it cycle for 24 hours before adjusting it again. |
If you feel a shiver each time
you open your utility bill, your house may be too cold.
More likely, however, you're paying more than you should
to heat it. In either case, you can make changes now that
will make your home more comfortable and save you money.
These aren't big projects like adding attic insulation or
replacing your windows—save those for later. They're
easy-to-do and inexpensive techniques. The most
complicated will take a weekend afternoon, and many take
little time and don't even require the purchase of
materials, only changing a habit or two. Others can be
done for as little as $10. We'll take a look first at the
obvious stuff and then at more specialized—but still
simple—energy-saving techniques.
Each degree you lower the
thermostat on your heating system decreases your fuel
bill by 3 percent. Going from 72° down to 68°F doesn't
matter much in terms of comfort, but it can save up to 12
percent on your heating bill. (All temperatures in this
article are in degrees Fahrenheit.) If you're using a coil-type
thermostat, you'll get more accurate readings if you
clean it. Pop off the thermostat cover and blow or gently
swipe away the dust.
Light a match and the rising hot air will
draw nearby cooler air into the match flame. Heat a
building, and the rising hot air will pull cold air from
outside into the house. It's a physical principle called
"stack effect." To defeat it, cut down on
spaces cold air can enter your house, like under a door
to the outside. Seal this gap with a "door
snake," a long thin cloth sack, like a bean bag.
Fill it with dried peas or rice, something to make it
heavy enough to stay in place. You can sew one using
scrap fabrics.
If you have a forced-air system,
changing the furnace filter can save you some energy (up
to 5 percent) and keep dust down in the house. The system
will last longer and be less likely to break down. The
most popular 16 X 20-in. duct filter costs around 50
cents when bought by the box. Change them monthly during
heating season. Measure your air filter before shopping;
they range in size from 12 X 12 in. to 30 X 30 in. An
alternative to swapping out the replacement filter is to
use washable filters (around $20 each). With care, they
can last five years.
You use more hot water in
winter. Lower the water heater temperature from 140° to
120°. And take showers, not baths. According to the U.S.
Department of Energy, the average bath consumes up to 25
gal. of hot water, while a five-minute shower uses up
much less—only around 10 gal. Equipping your showers
with low-flow showerheads also dramatically reduces the
consumption of water, both hot and cold.