Cutting Heating Costs

[Blessed]

What are some of your strategies to cut heating costs?

Last year we heated with Natural Gas. Dh kept the thermostat at 80º to keep warm. This year we are in a different house and heat with propane. We are all comfortable with the thermostat set at 68º. I am considering a programmable thermostat and decreasing the setting even more while we are away and while we sleep.

[homesteadmamma]

~turn your thermostat down a few degrees at night. We have ours set at 60 and use more quilts.
~every 2 degrees your turn down your heat, you save 2% of your heating costs per month.
~make sure all drafts are taken care of
~if you have older type windows, cover with plastic.
~we make sure everyone goes out at once when we are leaving our home rather than opening and closing the door several times.

[canadian gardener]

What she said

I also ditto the programmable double setback. It means you can set the temps way back at night or at times when few if any people are home, but the programming kicks in when you like it, say half an hour before people come home or get up in the morning. You can do different settings for weekends or any day of the week when a shift worker might be home during the day for example.

Another thing I'm fond of is a rolled up old bath towel by the front door in the winter.

It doubles as a draft stopper, and a washable one at that, and also as a quick mop for those puddles of melting slush and mud that are so much a part of winter boot traffic.

Dh and I have had extra insulation blown into the roof of one house, the others have been pretty good.

You lose most heat thru the roof and thru the drafts.