Keeping your home warm and comfortable this winter doesn’t mean spending more on your utility bills. Reducing your heating needs and controlling your thermostat temperature settings will help you keep your energy costs down without sacrificing comfort.

WINTER ENERGY COSTS

Heating your apartment or condo is your biggest energy cost during the winter. Paying attention to a few details will help you manage those costs—and be more comfortable. Keep the heat in. Spend your money keeping yourself warm instead of wasting energy heating the outdoors. If you have storm windows, make sure they are completely closed. Install plastic window film kits on windows that are leaky or that don’t have storms. If you have a fireplace, close the damper when you’re not using it. Pull your shades or close your drapes at night (but leave them open on east, south and west windows during the day for solar heating).

Control the temperature and humidity. The temperature at which you set the thermostat affects how much it costs to heat your home. Regularly lowering your thermostat will save you money. Lowering the normal setting (all day, all night, every day)one degree saves three percent on your monthly heating bill. Two degrees will save six percent. You can save another one percent for every degree that you lower your thermostat for each 8-hour period you’re asleep or away at work. Set your thermostat no higher than 72°F when people are home. Lower your thermostat to 65°F or less when you are sleeping or when no one is home.

Very important! Keep your furnace filters clean. This removes stress from the system and maintains a healty air quality. Please call us at 706-546-6900 if you need assistance changing your filter.  Inexpensive filters are often recommended to be changed monthly, more effective filters, also slightly higher in price can be changed every 3 months.

And remember: the thermostat is not like the gas pedal on your car—turning it to the highest (or even to a higher) setting does not warm you up any faster.

During the winter you’ll feel warmer if the air in your home is not too dry. Maintaining the relative humidity between 20% percent and 40% can let you lower the thermostat setting without making you feel cold.

MYTH: Setting back the thermostat makes the furnace work harder when you raise the thermostat back to a comfortable temperature. You really don’t save energy.

FACT: You save energy because your furnace uses less to maintain the lower temperature. The longer your house stays at the lower temperature, the more energy you save.