Beyond Winterizing: 6 Ways To Cut Costs This Winter

The rising price of home heating gas and oil in an already tight economy has people scrambling to cut costs this winter. 

Most people are aware of basic home winterizing tips that will keep your house safe and airtight throughout the winter months. 

Check out this Guide To Winterizing Your Home for tips that range from having your furnace and fireplace serviced to winterizing windows and doors, to making sure your plumbing doesn’t freeze.  

Beyond typical winterizing, here are some things you can do to boost your energy and money savings during the winter…

 

1. Use space heaters. 

While space heaters can pose a danger if you’re not careful, a newer model space heater is very safe to use. 

Here are tips for choosing a safe space heater and saving money on heating costs by using a space heater.  

HINT: Basically, the trick is to lower your thermostat to 65 degrees and to use a space heater to warm only the occupied rooms. 
 

2. Turn off the bathroom vent fan.

Be careful about leaving your bathroom vent fan on too long, because it can suck all of the heat out of the home in just over an hour! 
 

3. Use thermal heat.

By opening window treatments on the sunny side of the house during the day, and closing window treatments at night, you will be taking advantage of thermal heat.  

4. Winterize your attic door. 

An insulated attic door is akin to leaving a window open year round.  It is recommended that you use an attic stair cover instead. The attic stair cover is installed on the inside of the attic and cannot be seen from the outside. 
 

5. Stop fireplace drafts. 

Apparently, a fireplace does more harm than good in the winter months. 

Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when your warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw – sucking the heated air from your house. This is like leaving a window open all year round! Source: How To Reduce Your Home Heating Bills This Winter

It’s also recommended that you use a fireplace pillow.  A fireplace pillow or chimney balloon is an inflatable device that is put into the fireplace to stop drafts. 

 

6. While you’re at it, don’t forget to winterize your vehicle! 

Wintertime is very unfriendly to a vehicle. Cold temperatures make it harder for an engine to work properly. Snow and ice limit traction. Potholes damage wheels and tires. Salt causes rust and gravel pits the paint. However, there are things you can do to help your vehicle in this time of duress. Following are some easy steps to "winterize" your car. In fact, they are so easy; a talking car could figure them out! Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Source: Edmunds

 

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