How to Minimize Heating Costs

Each and every winter, we turn up the heat to stay warm - leading to high energy bills all across the nation. To keep your utility bills down, the Aurora movers at All My Sons Moving & Storage have a few tips and tricks to help you minimize heating costs.

Replace worn weather strips - A great fraction of heat loss in homes is due to worn weather strips. Old weather stripping on doors and windows creates drafts and allows the cold air to get inside. Replacing old, cracked and worn weather strips is as simple as pulling them off and replacing it with new, fresh stripping.

Buy a portable heater - Place a space heater in the general area where everyone gathers so you don't have to crank up the furnace to heat the entire house. Even though the rest of the house will be cooler, you will be focus the warmth into the gathering area. The Aurora movers say that you will be able to minimize heating costs in your house by applying this method.

Block off your chimney - If you have a chimney, the Aurora movers at All My Sons suggest blocking it off so warm air cannot escape. An easy way to do this is with an inflatable chimney balloon. Blow up the balloon and stick it right in the chimney. Most balloons with automatically deflate if you start a fire without taking the balloon out first. You can purchase one of these online so you can begin to minimize heating costs left and right.

Lower your thermostat - Lowering your thermostat by even a few degrees has the ability to make the world of a difference on your energy bill. Chances are, you will not notice a difference in the way your house feels, but Aurora movers can guarantee that you will definitely notice on your bill.

Get a programmable thermostat - If you tend to forget to lower the thermostat, purchase a programmable one that can adjust the heat for you on a schedule. If you know that you're not going to be home for hours - say, when you're at work all day - your thermostat will lower the heat for you so you don't have to. You can set these thermostats to run on whichever schedule you wish. You can usually change them daily, so your schedule for Monday-Friday can differ from that of Saturday and Sunday.

Let the light in during the day time - Sun rays are free! Take advantage of them. Allowing the sunlight in can provide your house with just the extra warmth you need. To minimize heating costs during the night time, keep the windows covered, especially if you have older windows. Keep cold air at bay and reduce heat loss with this simple method.

Bundle up - Aurora movers say another simple way to minimize heating costs is by bundling up instead of turning the heater all the way up. If your feet and neck are warm, the rest of your body will feel warm. If you are still feeling cold, bundle up in a sweater or blanket in order to minimize heating costs without having to do anything extra.