With cold weather here, and some colder than others, many households are considering how to save on heating costs this winter.

Here are some tips to lower your heating bill this winter. And this is for renters AND home owners.

• Turn your thermostat down. You probably hear this all the time but what exactly does it mean? What you want to do is adjust your thermostat so that you heat waits to comes on at a higher temperature. Test it out by adjusting your thermostat a few degrees lower.  I've heard it said that for every degree you lower your thermostat you can save 1% to 2% off of your heating bill (don't quote me). If you find yourself a bit chilled (not overly cold) blankets, sweaters, and hot tea are great warmers.
• Close off vents in rooms where there is not much use. Do you have a guest room not currently in use or a home office that is not used that often? Close off the vents to that room so that the heat is then not wasted on warming that room.
• Check your windows and doors for cracks. Use weatherstripping and caulking to fill in the gaps you may find. Use a low cost draft stopper for doors. Make sure you aren't blocking heat in rooms you want to have it in with furniture draperies.
• Purchase insulated or thermal curtains. Designed to contain the heat in your home by reducing the amount of heat lost through windows and sliding doors thermal curtains are a great way to conserve energy. On sunny days open them up to allow the sun to heat your home.
• Want to lower the bills without lowering your comfort level? Consider purchases that will result in long term savings such as investing in a wood burning fireplace insert. Have a fireplace in your home? Turn it into an efficient money saving heating source! The beautiful thing about wood burning fireplace inserts is they can act as a furnace utilizing either radiant heat or forced air or both!
• Have your furnace serviced. Don’t wait until the middle of a snow storm and your heater breaks down. Get it taken care of early. It’s much cheaper to figure in an annual checkup for your furnace than to deal with a breakdown that could have been avoided.
• Turn off electronics when you are done using them such as computers, and televisions.
• Limit your shower time and take showers instead of baths (unless medical or similar issue).

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