How To Reduce Heating Costs This Fall: 6 Tips To Lower Your Bill
Updated September 24, 2024 at 10:54 am
After a summer of record-breaking highs, cooler temperatures are a welcomed thought. But as the days grow colder, many Americans will use more heat to keep their homes warm through the fall and winter. With that in mind, it’s a good time to think about how to reduce heating costs.
Luckily, achieving a lower heat bill is possible if you follow a few tips to keep your home insulated and protected while being frugal about your energy usage. And you don’t have to sacrifice your comfort to do it.
To help, we outline a few factors impacting high heating bills and offer tips on how to lower your bill and save some cash this fall.
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Understanding the Factors That Drive Up Your Heating Costs
The more heat you use, the higher your bill will be. That’s just common sense. But if you understand the reasons why your home is using more energy to warm up and stay warm, you’ll be able to lower it.
There are several factors that drive up your heating costs, including:
- Home size: The larger your home, the more square footage you’ll have to heat. Depending on how your home is arranged, you may find certain areas of your home are colder than others or never fully reach the desired temperature. The layout, then, is also a major factor in your heating effectiveness and cost.
- Type of heating system: Your home is likely outfitted with one of three types of heating, each with varying efficiencies: baseboard, radiant or furnace. Your bills will vary depending on which you have or the combination of heating systems your home uses.
- Age and performance of your heating system: An older system is likely less efficient than a new one. For example, an older furnace will have to work much harder to achieve the same temperatures as a newer system, likely driving up your bill.
- Effectiveness of your home’s insulation: Think of your home like an envelope. The goal is to completely seal that envelope to ensure any heat your system puts out remains in the home to keep it warm. If your home has problems with drafts or poor insulation, the heat you’re paying for could be escaping, requiring more energy to keep temperatures optimal.
- Weather: The colder it is outside, the harder your heating systems will have to work to bring your home to the desired temperature.
- Fuel prices and factors outside your control: Much like the weather, we as homeowners can’t control the cost of fuel or the demands around the gas industry. If your home is powered by gas, this is a factor that will affect your overall bill despite any action you take.
6 Tips for Reducing Heating Costs in Your Home
1. Insulate and Weatherproof Your Home
If you’re a handy person, you can improve your home’s insulation by replacing caulking around windows or where you see gaps. You can also add new weatherstripping to your doors to prevent hot air from escaping.
Not super handy? Consider hiring a pro to assess your home’s energy efficiency and make the necessary upgrades. Depending on where in the country you live, insulating your home with spray foam can cost between $0.60 and $3.10 per square foot, according to Angi, or $2,878 total on average. Caulking your windows costs between $50 and $70 per window. And replacing windows entirely is a much more expensive endeavor at about $750 per window on average—but it has a big impact. You might also consider adding blinds or drapes to your windows to improve your home’s insulation.
2. Use a Smart Thermostat
Smart thermostats are one of the easiest ways to automate savings on home heating bills. These handy gadgets allow you to adjust your home’s heating and cooling settings remotely through an app. They also have scheduling features that let you set the thermostat to a lower temperature when you’re away from home and kick back on in full force when you’re headed back. You can also set schedules so the heat drops overnight as you sleep.
The best smart thermostats also offer an easy way to monitor your energy usage, track trends month to month and adjust the temperature in different parts of your home if you have multiple thermostats. These devices can also alert you to high energy usage, severe weather and power outages. Plus, you could benefit from energy rebates and extend the life of your HVAC system by using heat sparingly and only when needed. Finally, homes with smart home appliances often appeal to buyers.
3. Maximize Natural Heat in Your Home
You’ve likely noticed spots or rooms in your home that feel warmer than others. Just as your basement feels cooler in the summer than your second floor, a room in your home with lots of east-facing windows will likely feel warmer in the morning than in the evening. Rooms with frequently used exterior doors could feel markedly cooler.
In order to maximize the natural heat in your home, consider only using the rooms that feel warmer. If you have a room in your home with windows that face the sun, consider opening any blinds or drapes to let all the heat in during the day. Close those curtains and blinds at night to trap the heat.
Heat rises, so the second or third floor of your home will feel much warmer than other levels. If possible, sleep in those rooms at night to reduce the amount of heat needed to feel comfortable. You can also warm up a room by adding furniture, including rugs to hardwood and tile. Consider blocking drafts under doors or along window sills with towels or draft stoppers, which you can make or buy.
4. Consider Alternative Heating Sources
Have a particularly cold room in your home? Consider using a portable heater to warm things up. Personal heaters are designed to plug into the wall and emit heat in a targeted area. They can often lower your overall heating bill by only delivering heat to one area of your home.
Additionally, indoor fireplaces and wood-burning stoves are extremely effective in delivering heat to one area of your home. Burning fuel or wood to stay warm can also offset the work required of your home’s heating systems, saving money.
Many Americans are also switching to solar panels to reduce their home’s electrical costs, which can help when it comes to heating and cooling. Check out our list of the best solar companies for insight into which provider will work for your needs.
5. Try Budget Billing
Utility costs vary month to month as the weather changes, so one of the ways to ensure a more predictable bill is to sign up for budget billing. Many utility providers will estimate your monthly usage based on past data and offer you a set monthly rate. While this doesn’t necessarily reduce the amount you’ll pay over the course of a year, it will eliminate any wild swings in price from one season to the next, effectively “lowering” your monthly bill.
You can even charge the cost of your utilities and enjoy some benefits with one of the best credit cards for utility bills.
Read more: Hidden Costs of Homeownership
6. Maintain Your Heating System
One of the best ways to ensure an affordable heating bill is to keep your home’s heating system in tip-top shape. Be sure to have your furnace inspected each year and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for replacing features such as air filters. Your furnace could be relatively new but still not performing optimally if neglected. The same advice holds for your home’s ductwork.
Long-Term Benefits of Reducing Heating Costs
There are many long-term benefits when it comes to reducing your home’s heating costs. If you choose to undertake some of the improvement projects suggested for lowering your bill, your home can benefit beyond reduced heating costs. Homes with major upgrades like new furnaces may sell more quickly and for more money. And when you improve your home’s insulation, you not only help with heating bills but cooling bills as well.
Plus, upgrading your home with smart home devices such as thermostats makes it easier to monitor your energy usage even from afar.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Makes Your Heat Bill High?
Poor insulation in your home, coupled with an aging heating system, is typically the biggest culprit for high heat bills. Larger homes require more heat, and the colder the weather, the harder your home’s heating systems will have to work to maintain temperature.
What Uses the Most Gas in a Home?
The biggest gas guzzler in a home is typically the central gas heater, which supplies heat by burning propane or natural gas in the furnace. Next in line is a home’s water heater, followed by a gas-powered oven and stove.
Are There Any Government Programs or Rebates To Help Reduce Heating Expenses?
You might qualify for government rebates if you upgrade your home’s heating and cooling systems (i.e., water heaters, furnaces and boilers) to more energy-efficient options. Rebates are also available for door and window replacements. Look for appliances that are Energy Star rated when shopping.
What Temperature Should I Set My Thermostat To Save Money in Cold Weather?
The U.S. Department of Energy recommends setting your thermostat at 68 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter to optimize energy efficiency. Want to save even more? Consider lowering that temperature by 7 to 10 degrees for eight hours a day, either while you’re sleeping or away from home, to save up to 10% a year on energy costs.
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