Fall and winter is a great time to turn up the heat and stay warm and cozy inside your home. Yet with the price of fuel and utilities on the rise, cutting down on heating bills becomes very important. Radiators, space heaters, furnaces and boilers all add up to the costs of keeping your home nice and warm for the winter months. Getting rid of those high heating bills can save you a lot of time, money, and energy.
When Do You Need Artificial Heat?
Artificial heat is very useful for keeping your home warm during the coldest times of autumn and winter. If you have high heating bills, chances are you're using space heaters, boilers, and furnaces even when you can still tolerate the cold. Most heating appliances use piped-in fuel or electricity and cost you hundreds of dollars for the winter months.
Use artificial heat only when you absolutely need it: f the cold chill from the blizzard outside seeps into the walls, or if your thickest housecoat does not offer you enough protection from the cold. You may also need to turn on artificial heat if you keep cold-sensitive house plants, and if you own pets.
It's also important to track how long you have the heat on. If your house is insulated properly, then you don't need to keep the heaters on permanently. Like air conditioners, you should only turn on the heat just enough to keep enough heat circulating around the rooms of your home.
Turn the Heat Off
If you don't really need artificial heat but still feel cold, there are many other ways to keep yourself warm and dry during the coldest days of winter. Here are some ways that you can keep yourself warm without turning on the heaters and furnaces:
•Pile on the blankets. Comforters, blankets, thick sheets, or overcoats can keep you warm just as well as space heaters.
•Wear extra layers. If you do need to move around the house on a cold day, you may need to wear extra layers of clothes, long underwear, or thicker socks. The extra layers of clothes trap pockets of warm air that can help you preserve and retain body heat.
•Chicken soup for both body and soul. Soup, especially chicken soup, is a hearty and invigorating dish that you can have during the cold days of the winter months. Chicken soup is best served steaming hot, with a side of herb bread and plenty of conversation to go around. If you're a vegetarian, you can substitute chicken soup for pea and lentil soup.
•Insulate your home. Warm air escapes from gaps and cracks on your walls and ceilings. Even before the colder months of the year arrive, take the time to repair and insulate your home. Don't go cheap with Spackle or masking tape as “insulation.” If you need to replace walls or insulation material inside double-walling, buy the best your budget can allow.
Look for Other Fuels
Piped gas and electricity bills skyrocket during the winter months. With the rising costs of fossil fuels, it's important to use other natural, less-expensive fuels to keep your home warm. Here are some ideas for fuels and materials to heat up your home:
•Convert furnaces to small incinerators. Some boilers and furnaces can be converted to burn trash, wood chips, and garbage. You may need to check with neighborhood rules and local laws to see if it's legal to burn trash in your home.
•Try biodiesel. Most gas-burning furnaces can be converted to use biodiesel. Biodiesel is a fuel oil made from processing biomass like leftover food, agricultural waste, and even used cooking oil from restaurants and kitchens. Biodiesel is also much cheaper than fuel oil.
•Chop wood, just like the old times. Heating oil for homes can get very expensive. You may want to take a page out of history and heat your homes the old-fashioned way. If you live in a place where wood is plentiful, you can chop enough wood to put in a fireplace and heat your home. Chopping wood is also a great way to bond with your family and friends.
Stay Active
Just because it's the winter season and it's a cold day outside doesn't mean that you should hibernate. Exercise is a great way to keep yourself warm. Increased circulation can help increase body heat, especially on cold winter days. Here are some ways that you can stay active during the winter season:
•Take a jog. Winter is a good time to break out that weatherproof Gore-Tex jacket and those warm jogging pants. If weather permits, you can take a jog around the neighborhood to increase blood circulation.
•Exercise indoors. Sometimes snowfall is strong, and it's too cold outside to take a jog. You can improve circulation and increase body heat by exercising at home. Ski machines, stair-climbers, exercise videos, medicine balls, and treadmills are terrific ways to get yourself up and running indoors. Dancing and aerobic kickboxing are also great ways to exercise during the cold winter months.
Use Heat Prudently
On particularly cold days, you need to warm your home with heating appliances. You can heat up your home without spending too much money in gas and electricity bills. Here are ways that you can use heating appliances efficiently and prudently:
•Turn on the heat only to warm through. Heat circulates, like cold air from an air conditioner. You only need to turn on a space heater just long enough to warm the room through.
•Don't set the heaters on high. Too much heat gets very uncomfortable. It's best to set the heater on medium and turn it off when the room gets hot enough.
•Try radiant heating. If you still own an old-fashioned cast-iron radiator, you may want to have your heating system replaced with underfloor tubing. Radiant heating is much more efficient and comfortable than convection heating, because it warms people and objects in a room, and not the air in the room.
If you can't stand the heat, and if you can't stand looking at how much your heating bills cost, then it's time for you to look for ways to cut down the costs. Or if you're really feeling angry, you can get rid of your heating bill by just throwing it into the furnace, watch it sizzle and burn, and worry about how you're going to heat your house for the next winter season.