Heating costs continue to rise each year. The two significant factors of natural disasters and the war in Iraq contribute to this inflation of home heating expenses related to electric, gas and oil furnaces alike. There are steps you can take to lower the cost, alleviating your cash for other expenses or simply for the next rise in heating costs. The tips below can help you lower your bills by conserving energy when heating your home.



Shut Curtains and Blinds. If it is sunny on a winter day, be sure to keep your curtains and blinds open during the day to let the rays in to provide some warmth. However, when dusk and night hours approach, you should shut and curtains and blinds. Of course, re-open them the next morning.

Shut Doors. If you are not using a room, leave the door closed especially if you are not using the room long-term. This will avoid the necessity to provide extra heat to that room, and also limit the cold air from escaping into the other rooms. When this happens, the furnace must work harder to heat the house and increase heating costs.

Insulate and Caulk Windows. Check your windows to see if they are well sealed. If not, the windows will allow cold air from the outside to enter the home, again making the furnace work harder to provide heat. A good way to test if your windows are well sealed, is to turn of all fans as well as the furnace, and produce smoke near the window. If air is entering the home through the windows, the smoke will move toward the window. You can purchase window sealing packets from a home improvement store. Caulking the windows is another option.

Buy a Ceiling Fan. This may come as a surprise, but buying a ceiling fan is another way to reduce heating costs. Ceiling fans help push and keep the warmer air down. Most models include reversible switches allowing the fans to be used in the summer as well. The cost of the fan will, at some point, be made up with the money saved in heating costs.

Check Roof Top Insulation. Cold air may be coming into the house from the attic due to poor insulation. There should be enough air pockets in the insulation to trap the cold air and push it away from the living areas. Old, insufficient insulation is usually flat and brittle which indicates that it is time to replace the insulation. This will definitely help conserve energy.

Even the implementation of a few steps above will lead to better heating and a reduction in heating costs. There are many additional ways to conserve energy, and doing a little research online or talking to your local energy provider may save you even further in energy costs. This is time well spent resulting in money saved and a warmer home environment.