Monday, October 13, 2014

How You Can Save Heating Oil Cost

By Jamal D White


For most people, winter comes with more than just a big change of wardrobe. It comes with a boost in the heating expenses. While heating oil may take an enormous slice of your finances, after some determination and discipline, you may be able to slash your heating oil cost by a third, or even better, half. Here are some ways this can be done.

The easiest method to start reducing your heating oil expenses is to lower your thermostat slowly. It does not need to be sudden; reducing one degree in temperature in your thermostat can help you save about 1 % of heating bill. Therefore, you may be able to conserve up to 5 percent of the total heating cost should you reduce the reading in your thermostat from 70 percent that is common in most homes to around 65.

Avoid warming the rooms in which you rarely spend time. Leave the rooms you spend a quarter-hour or less to stay cold. If you wish to use these rooms, you can just put on a jacket for the short time you will be there. You will be surprised at what you can save out of this simple change of tact.

Many people have a tendency to leave their houses heating even if nobody is around. This is not only a waste of energy, but is also a sure way to increase your heating bills at the end of the season. Lower the reading on your thermostat by ten levels when nobody is in the house, whether you are at work, vacation, or anywhere else but home.

You may also improvise during the night in order to save heating costs. For example, you could buy a lower bed comforter or get additional warm blankets to help keep the cold out and then lower the thermostat temperature by ten degrees. A different way to warm-up during the night is wrapping a warm water bottle inside a towel to avoid the temptation of heating for extra warmth.

For most people, the comfort of wearing jeans and light shirts is too much for them to turn down the thermostat. However, you can save plenty of cash by wearing warm clothes and turning the thermostat a notch lower. You can do this using a layer of clothes: an undershirt, sweater and cover yourself with a light jacket. Moreover, rather than walking on bear feet around the house; keep your socks and slippers on for warmth.

Your home may be an additional source of cold. Make sure that your home is well insulated. Consider leaks in the home windows and shut out cold air from entering using plastic film. You will find these at the local home improvement stores or hardware, and they are really simple to set up.

Some people find doing laundry with warm water very comforting. However, this is not entirely necessary. Various manufacturers today produce detergents you can use with either cold or tepid to warm water. There is no need to waste energy warming up water to clean your clothes. Doing this will definitely bring a smile on your face at the end of the cold spell.




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