The Four Key Ways We Save on Heating Bills
When it comes to home heating, frugality isn't really a choice anymore, it is a necessity. Here is how we capped our heating bills:
- Woodstove-- We have a fireplace inset that very efficiently heats the house. We use seasoned firewood and a cleaned chimney. Fires are run from about 4:00 PM until about midnight and then the embers continue to throw off heat for another two hours (here are my posts, Firewood Posts Revisited)
- 62 and dressed-- Our thermostat is set for 62 degrees and we don't run around in shorts and t-shirts. You may think 62 is low, but with the fires the house, when we are home, is in the high 60s or low 70s. The oil burner only kicks on around three times per day: around 4:00 AM, 10:00 AM, and 2:30 PM (when we sleep and when we aren't home)
- Space heaters-- We don't have zone heating, so we sometimes use space heaters to warm targeted areas in early and late winter season or on exceptionally cold days
- Doors closed-- We are hawks about the front and back doors, and most importantly, the garage doors
That's it . . . simple savings.
Posted by DDFD at 12/17/2008 8:54 AM 
Categories: Money Savers, Frugality, Self Sufficiency, Simple Living
Tags: Money Savers Simple Living Self Sufficiency Frugal Frugality
Categories: Money Savers, Frugality, Self Sufficiency, Simple Living
Tags: Money Savers Simple Living Self Sufficiency Frugal Frugality
We're nearly a carbon copy out in Cheyenne, Wyoming where we can have bitter cold and plenty of wind. We heat almost exclusively with wood, and just turned on our furnace yesterday, despite having many a night as low as minus 14.
Our thermostat is set at 58 and we fire up our kitchen fireplace insert and run it all day. We top out at about 72 degrees, but usually hover around 68 all day.
The sliding glass doors to the sunroom stay closed because this robs heat from the rest of the house and allows it to go up into the vaulted ceiling. We keep the guest bedroom door closed for the same reason.
Here's a tip from Wyoming. Don't keep the house real warm. Doing so makes the outside feel all that much colder, and when you come into the house you feel like you're walking into a large oven.
If you come in from the cold into a house that isn't real warm, it feels plenty warm. I know it sound odd, but having a not so warm house can be quite comfortable because you minimize the temperature extremes.
And, of course, you save money on fuel, or at least you burn less wood.
Clair
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