Ten Free Ways to Lower Your Energy Bill

The good news is that heating costs are slightly lower this winter, for the first time in five years. The bad news is that they're not much lower! The Energy Information Administration projects a $19 decrease in the average cost of household heating fuel this winter. If you want a larger savings, you'll have to be a little more active. That doesn't necessarily mean spending more money! Small daily changes can lead to noticeable savings. Here are ten free ways to lower your energy bill:

1. Turn down the thermostat! It really does make a big difference. Studies by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) say that for every degree you lower that thermostat, you'll save about 3 per cent of your heating bill. That's a noticeable difference! So haul out your wool sweater and save some cash.

If you can't bear sitting in a cold house, at least turn down the heat when you're at work or in bed. Turning the thermostat down 10 degrees for 16 hours a day results in a 14 per cent savings on your heating bill.

2. Turn down the hot water heater. Heating water is the third-largest portion of the typical family's energy bill. Heating water to 115-120 degrees reduces power consumption, and the difference to the user is usually not noticeable, according to ACEEE.

3. Turn off your vent fans! Most kitchen and bathroom vent fans remove odors and steam in 20 minutes or less. Turn them off as soon as the job is done. According to the Department of Energy, a small vent fan left running for just one hour can expel an entire houseful of warm air.

4. If you have a fireplace, close the damper. The chimney of your fireplace is designed specifically to pull smoke out of the house. An open chimney is like a hole in your roof! According to the U.S. Department of Energy, about 14 per cent of warm air that escapes from your house is lost through the fireplace. If your fireplace has glass doors, keep them closed when the fireplace is not in use.

Sitting by a fire is a great pleasure, but remember that a traditional fireplace actually sucks heat out of the room, even when a fire is burning.. Turn down the furnace when you build a fire.

5. Make sure the heat vents are not blocked. Putting furniture over or in front of heat vents may improve the traffic pattern in your rooms, but the convenience has a high price tag. Make sure long curtains aren't redirecting warm air up along the windows. If necessary, you can use a baffle to redirect hot air.

6. Clean the dust out of registers at the beginning of the heating seasons and monthly afterward. Clean or replace furnace filters as often as the manufacturer recommends.

7. Close off rooms that you don't use. Be sure to close the heat vents inside the room. According to Consumers Energy Company, this can save 5 to 20 per cent of your annual heating costs.

8. Make the most of your curtains. During the day, open the curtains on south-facing windows to absorb as much warmth as possible. At night, close all your curtains. Hanging longer, heavier curtains in the winter also reduces your heating bill, as does interlining your curtains.

9. If you have a ceiling fan, set it to blow down gently. Hot air rises, and it won't make you any warmer when it's on the ceiling. Push the warm air back down into the room where you can benefit from it.

10. Haul those old storm windows out of the basement and install them. They really do cut down on heat loss. If you don't have storm windows, try taping a sheet of plastic over your windows. Be sure to seal the edges all the way around.

There you are - ten ways to enjoy lower energy bills without spending money or making yourself miserable!