Here are 10 tips to cut your heating costs and stay cozy this winter.
Cold weather is approaching, so here are some suggestions to reduce your winter energy usage.
Tip 1: Check your windows and doors for air gaps. Install weatherproofing as needed.
Tip 2: Electrical outlets and switches on exterior walls can allow cold air into your house because the insulation is either missing or compressed around the boxes. You can install insulation pads under the covers to reduce the loss.
Tip 3: Windows have less thermal insulation than walls, so use insulated drapes and curtains to reduce their heat loss.
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Tip 4: Keep your drapes and curtains closed except when the sun is shining on the windows. Sunlight can provide up to 100 watts of energy per square foot. You can capture 70-90% of this energy by putting dark rugs, furniture, etc., in the sunlight. Sunlight can fade certain materials, so you may want to cover them with dark towels, blankets, sheets, etc., to protect them.
Tip 5: A home’s thermal heat loss is equal to the temperature difference between the inside temperature and outside temperature, divided by the home’s thermal resistance value. For example, if the outside temperature is 45 degrees, you will use 50% more energy to keep your house at 75 instead of 65 degrees. So, keep your house as cool as possible.
Tip 6: If you have heat vents by a window, adjust the louver so the air does not blow on the window, or put a vent deflector over the vent to divert the air. Blowing warm air on a window increases the thermal loss through the window.
Tip 7: Use your clothes dryer during the warmest part of the day. A typical clothes dryer will exhaust the air in a 2,000 sq ft residence in about 1.5 hours, so you will need to re-heat all that air. If you have an electric dryer (not gas!), consider using an Indoor Dryer Vent Kit. You get double savings from this because you keep the warm, moist dryer exhaust air in the house and aren’t replacing your room air with outside air. If you install one, consider running the dryer during the coldest time of the day. This reduces running your home heating system when it is least efficient.
If you have a heat pump:
Tip 8: Check the temperature setting that turns on the auxiliary heat. Most thermostats have a default setting of 40 degrees, which is higher than needed for newer systems. (I reduced my heating bill by about 25% by adjusting mine from 40 to 25 degrees. If you can’t determine this value, provide the thermostat and outside unit model information as a comment to this article and I’ll try to help you.)
Tip 9: Do not increase the temperature setting by more than a couple of degrees to prevent the auxiliary heat from turning on.
Tip 10: Heat pumps are less efficient as the temperature decreases, so try not to increase the temperature setting during the coldest parts of the day.
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