The average U.S. household spends more than $1,100 a year on heating bills, accounting for a big chunk of annual energy costs. In light of this expense, you may be searching for ways to warm up your home without cranking up the heat — and without bumping up your energy bills.
Here are 14 tips for making sure your home is cozy during the fall and winter while keeping your thermostat from triggering a spike in energy costs.
Home Heating Tips for the Winter
1. Turn down the thermostat
One of the simplest ways to trim your fall and winter heating bill is to lower your thermostat from, say, 70 or 71 to 68 degrees. For every degree you turn down the thermostat, you could see heating costs drop by 3%.
2. Close off unused rooms
Why heat rooms in your house that are going unused? To shave heating expenses, close the doors to unused rooms and shut the rooms’ HVAC vents.
3. Turn on ceiling fans
You may think of ceiling fans as something you rely on solely to cool your home. But ceiling fans also can come in handy when you’re heating your home. A fan running clockwise can recirculate warm air that’s hanging out near the ceiling.
4. Depend on your drapes
During the day, open south-facing drapes or blinds in your home to let sunlight pour in, providing a free source of heat. After sundown, be sure to close your drapes or blinds to prevent warm air from escaping.
5. Install new furnace filters
Dirty furnace filters can force your HVAC system to work overtime, which can lead to higher utility bills. To make your furnace more efficient, install new filters if your current ones are clogged. You also should consider bringing in a specialist to ensure your furnace is operating smoothly.
The U.S. Department of Energy recommends cleaning or replacing your furnace filters every month (or at intervals suggested by the maker of your HVAC system).
6. Check the insulation
Inadequate insulation can cause a loss of roughly 30% of your home’s warm air. Well-insulated attics, ceilings, walls and floors can help block the escape of warm air. Contact a local contractor if you think it may be time for an insultation inspection or upgrade.
7. Seal windows and doors
Small gaps around windows and doors can let about 20% of the warm air seep from your house. Before winter weather sets in, check your doors and windows to see whether you need to install or replace weather stripping or even buy new doors or windows.
8. Install a programmable thermostat
A programmable thermostat lets you automatically adjust the heat in your home throughout the day. For example, you might set the thermostat at 60 degrees during the workday and school day, when there may be no one at home, and 68 degrees in the evening.
A programmable thermostat may lead to savings of 10% to 20% on your utility bill.
9. Humidify your home
You may not realize it, but humid air feels warmer than dry air. Running a humidifier or ensuring your heating system’s humidifier is working can help with this task. So can maintaining house plants.
10. Close the fireplace damper
If you’re not firing up your fireplace, make sure the damper is closed. An open damper can allow warm air to escape, raising your heating bill by as much as 30%. Aside from closing the damper, you can put in a draft stopper to keep warm air from flowing out.
11. Get an energy audit
An energy audit performed by a trained specialist can identify opportunities for saving money on home heating. Many utilities in the U.S. offer low- or no-cost energy audits.
A study published in 2020 by the journal Sustainability found that just 9% of U.S. households had undergone an energy audit.
12. Layer up
Sure, you bundle up to ward off the chill when venture outdoors. But what about dressing in layers while you’re indoors, too? This can help keep you warm while enabling you to lower the thermostat. Plus, you can get extra mileage from your fall and winter sweaters.
You also can layer up inside your home by curling up under a blanket (perhaps the electric variety) or even snoozing in a sleeping bag.
13. Sip hot beverages
Drinking a hot cup of cocoa, coffee or tea can raise your body temperature, helping you feel more comfortable on a chilly day.
14. Look into a heat pump
A heat pump does double duty by both warming and cooling your home.
The federal Energy Star program says an air-force heat pump offers efficient heating and cooling by drawing heat from outside into your home during the winter and pulling heat out of your home during the summer. A heat pump uses less energy to heat your home than a conventional electric or gas system does, according to Energy Star.
For the 2023 tax year, U.S. households can claim a tax credit covering 30% of the cost of buying and installing a heat pump, up to $2,000.
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