Winter will soon be upon us. If you are like me, you worry about how expensive heating costs will be each year. Many of us are on fixed incomes and don’t always have the extra money that it takes to keep our homes warm for the coming colder season. So, we have compiled a few tips to help you save money on your gas bill this winter.
Tips To Save Money On Your Gas Bill This Winter
1. Wait To Lock In Your Therm {BTU} Rate: Economist Guru Clark Howard claims that although many people lock in their rates in August at a price of .575 (or, average annual price of $775 for 12 months), research suggests that you could actually pay much less on your gas bull annually if you to wait to lock in your therm until September. Sometimes being first isn’t always best.
2. Pre-programming Your Thermostat: Smart thermostats, or ones that are able to be pre-programmed and boast amazing features such as being able to learn the temperature patterns of your home, and some can even be programmed to know when nobody is actually in the home. A 5-1-1 programmable thermostat, for instance, allows you to schedule customized heating/cooling patterns for Mon.-Fri., Saturday, and Sunday specific to your family’s needs. Smart thermostats can cost less than $100 and can save you a large some on your gas bill by avoiding wasting unnecessary heating.
3. Know The Difference Between 68 and 72: The government says that consumers can save an average of 3% per each degree cooler you keep your thermostat in the winter. We like to keep ours around 65-68 degrees because it is much more cost effective to put on a sweater than it is to crank the heat up.
4. Know The Benefits Of Good Insulation: Proper attic insulation could save you a lot of money on heating in the long run and is one way to keep your home warmer while keeping the thermostat cooler. Here are a few words of advice from Bonner Built‘s Jason Bonner on the subject:
“A huge variable in the equation of low utilities is twenty inches of insulation. There are other ways to insulate, but this is the most common and cost effective. This will prevent any air from coming into the home and will also trap the cool or warm air in the home. Insulation is imperative.”
What Are Your Best Tips To Lowering Your Gas Bill?
I have oil heat, but these all still apply to me. Good insulation is so important.
These are all great tips! We are looking into investing in a Nest Thermostat that might be able to help us better evaluate our usage and save energy.
The thermostat setting has always been a battle between hubby and I. Our winters are very cold and our summers are pretty darned hot and he likes it to be cool. I like it to be around 75. Had our ceiling not been vaulted I could probably stand to turn it down to 68 but heat rises and in the winter, that’s the last thing you want with a high ceiling.
Poor insulation is out worst enemy in our 1950’s home!!! We did “splurge” on expensive windows and that has definitely helped, but we still aren’t heating as efficiently as we could be!
Our thermostat is set way too high, I know. I think we need better insulation around our windows.
These are all really great tips. Most people don’t think about attic insulation, but it’s really important. It saves you a ton of money to keep that attic tucked up right.
Great tips. Another big one for energy loss is drafty windows. Our house is older, and the windows are not the greatest. Every winter, we get a heat shrink plastic kit for the windows to help minimize the cold and the draft. It works like a charm!
That is a great idea. Our house is going to be 20 years old soon, and I can sometimes feel a draft in ours, too.
Yeah, in an old house, it’s virtually impossible to be as energy efficient as you’d like. They didn’t insulate very well back then.
These are great tips. Gas is getting more and more expensive every year. So anything we can do to reduce THAT particular bill is great.
We rent and I wouldn’t be surprised if the insulation is actually missing in our walls. We try to keep the thermostat as low as we can and are fans of socks and sweaters. We also make sure to plastic the windows.
I keep my thermostat at 68 during the day and 65 at night. Honestly, it is chilly, but I cant afford to keep it higher!
These are such great tips. I completely agree with you about adding more clothing or snuggling under a blanket versus raising the temperature!
Thank you for these great tips, gas is one of my biggest utility bills.
We don’t have gas, but my dad lives up north and it can get so expensive!
We just changed our windows this summer to help keep the house warmer. We are also replacing our 27 year old furnace.
Great tips! We could certainly always use a savings.
We battle all these things during the summer months in Az! It is amazing how much difference few degrees makes in a bill!
Great tips for people in cold climates!
Since I left Chicago for Vegas, we don’t worry here too much, we have the exact opposite issue with cooling. It’s a trade I’m willing to make for no more shoveling the driveway! 😉
Great tips! 3% per degree is really interesting, I’ll remember that when I start complaining of cold, haha.
I miss natural gas heating. Where I live, people use heat pumps or boilers. We use both. The heat pump is okay til the outdoor temp. hits 30 or lower. After that it keeps going into defrost. That’s when I switch over to “emergency heat”. The boiler uses #2 fuel oil which is quite expensive but necessary and very comfortable. We are also insulating ans changing windows.
Here’s another tip to add. Dress warmer. A sweater and scarf really helps 68 work in a home.
I like to keep the house cool and wear a sweater. I hate being too warm.
Nice tips!!! We have lots of blankets to snuggle up with. I am nervous because this coming winter is supposed to be brutal.
I have heard that, too. I wonder how bad it will get.
My system went funky, so I am sorry if this posts twice. We do lower our stat to 65 at night, and 70-72 during the day. Our bills, we think, are still high. We throw on an extra blanket at night, and wear a sweater during the day. I will lower the day temp to 68 if my hubby is not home, and we turn it down to 65 when we go away for the day. We want the programmable thermostat, and have been watching the prices to see if they might drop a little. Thanks for the reminder.
Good luck with the bill. I can definitely be hard to find what works great for the family and for your wallet at the same time.