How to Save Money on Your Utilities

With winter coming up, electricity usage is getting higher and higher with temperatures getting lower.  The colder it is, the more you crank your heat up.  No one wants to shiver!

And the more you use your heater, the more expensive your energy bill is.  Sure you can bundle up, but who likes waking up to a cold house in the morning?  You can barely get out of bed that way.

So you are stuck choosing between big bills and a cold house.  But no more!  There are ways you can keep the heat in your home and the money in your pocket.

We’ve compiled a list of great ways you can save month this winter and many winters to come.  So take off those mittens and start saving.

1. Don’t let any heat get out.  Fix all broken windows and make sure all doors and windows are sealed properly.  They say that between 30% and 50% of your energy bill is blown out the door, so close doors and windows when the heat is on.  And don’t forget about those open areas by the air conditioner and the air vents.
2. Keep your walls well insulated.  Sure it may look like cotton candy, but your house will appreciate it much more than your stomach will.  This fluffy pink material retains hot air and cold air when you need it.  And since heat rises, a handy place to put insulation in is your attic.  Often times, attics aren’t built that well because they generally aren’t meant to be lived in, so lots of heat can escape through the attic.  Prevent that from happening with the help of cotton candy.
3. Have the heat off when no one is home.  And if you want it to be nice and toasty when you get home, get a programmable thermostat and have it turn on 15 minutes before you get home.  That way, warm air isn’t wasted on an empty house.
4. Don’t let heat escape through your outlets.  Seal your outlets with foam so that no additional air gets out because it does, and much more than you would think.  But a nice foam barrier will prevent that and save you some money.  You can buy pre-cut foam specifically for this purpose at most hardware stores.
5. Keep your air filters clean.  If there is dust clogging up your air filters, heat is getting trapped in the ducts and not getting to your rooms to heat you.  You end up pumping way more air than you actually need because air isn’t getting out.  Clean filters fix this problem.  With clean filters, you use less air.

These tips are timeless and will help you save money many many years to come.  And all of these tips work for air conditioning in the summer as well.  Cold air escapes the house just like hot air, so don’t let that happen, especially since you are paying for all of this air to be pumped it.

Also, be sure that your heater and air conditioner are up to par and doing their jobs instead of just sucking up energy.

If all else fails, put on a sweater and do some squats.  It will warm you right up!