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8 Tactics to Lower Energy Costs on the Coldest Days

It’s one of the painful truths of winter: As the temperature drops, the energy bill goes up. In many parts of the United States, heating bills during the winter months can be extremely painful, and any strategy that helps to keep those costs in check can make a big difference.

Here are eight strategies that work in concert to keep those energy bills from devouring all your money.

Keep the thermostat low. This is the key to any strategy for saving home energy in the winter. If you can keep your thermostat low, then your furnace kicks on a lot less frequently, and thus you consume far less energy. In fact, for every degree you lower your thermostat in the 60 to 70 degree range, you save about 5 percent on your home energy bill, according to the California Energy Commission. So, drop that thermostat down several degrees, and then try some of these tips to stay comfortable.

Wear more and/or heavier clothes while indoors. If you add a layer or two to the clothing you wear around the house, your natural body warmth will keep you feeling warm even if the temperature is a bit lower. One strategy is to wear thick socks and a hooded sweatshirt around the house. You may also want to wear layers of clothing so you can add and remove them as needed.

Put extra covers on the beds. Simply adding an extra blanket to each bed can allow you to lower the thermostat at night when the outdoor temperature drops. Again, layering is a useful tactic – have a few blankets instead of one thick blanket so you can regulate the warmth as needed.  

Put plenty of blankets in the family room and living room. Keep a big pile of blankets available in the family room where you’re doing sedentary indoor activities. Grabbing a blanket to cover up with while you’re reading on the couch or watching television can keep you from getting too cold while your thermostat is low.

Use space heaters. While space heaters are not incredibly efficient for keeping large spaces warm, they are useful for heating individual rooms. If you primarily spend your hours in a single room, consider dropping your thermostat and using a space heater to warm up that room. Even though the space heater is less efficient than your home furnace, you’ll save quite a bit by heating up a single room instead of your entire house.

Open the curtains to allow direct sunlight to flow in. Most windows have a net positive on the warmth in your home if there is sunlight flowing through in the winter. You can take advantage of this by closing the blinds or the curtains when there isn’t direct sunlight on a window, but opening them when there is direct sunlight. Putting a thick covering over windows you never open is also a great idea for keeping warmth in your home.

Close the vents and put blankets along the bottom of doors in unused rooms. There’s no reason to spend energy heating an unused room. Step in there, close any vents you find, and then close the door behind you. Place a folded blanket or towel along the bottom of the door on the outside to keep heat from flowing into or out of that room. You should do the same for any door that allows a draft under the bottom; if it’s a door that faces the outside, consider adding a weatherstrip.

Run your ceiling fans on low in a clockwise direction. It’s basic physics – the air near the top of a room is warmer than that near the floor (unless there’s something seriously wrong with your insulation). However, in the winter, you want that warm air near the floor if possible. The easiest way to do this is torun a ceiling fan on low with the blades running in a clockwise direction (as you look up at the blades from the floor). This gently draws the air in the room upwards and forces the warm air that’s up near the ceiling downwards, warming the lower part of the room (where you are) without creating much of a wind chill effect. The key thing is to make sure you’re running the fan on “low,” since you don’t want air to move at a fast rate.

Together, these tactics allow you to keep your thermostat low during the winter months without feeling uncomfortable at home, and with each lowered degree comes additional savings on your winter heating bill. Get started right now – drop your temperature a few degrees, and try out some of these strategies.