Save Money On Heating This Winter

I’m trying to save money on heating this winter. I moved from a warm state with mild winters to a cold state with harsh winters about one year ago.

In addition, my current apartment uses gas for the central heating system. These two factors resulted in VERY high gas bills for me last winter.

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The funny thing is that my electric bills were low. Even after trying one of the tips below, my electric bill remained low! This helped to save money on heating towards the end of the winter season. Now I am trying to implement it more so that I can save even more this winter..while still remaining comfortably warm.

Use space heaters

Using space heaters is my number one tip for saving money while keeping warm. In my case, the central air with the gas resulted in ridiculously high gas bills on top of my electric bills.

I bought a space heater and started using that more. Even with letting it run longer and at a higher temperature I was able to cut my gas bill significantly while only raising the electric bill a tiny bit.

Wear layered clothing inside

This does not mean you should wear your puffer jacket while lounging and watching tv. Nor does it mean wearing a robe over your pajamas to bed like I tried in the past. It does mean you should not be walking around the house in a sleeveless shirt and and shorts.

Personally I love socks and will wear them year round. During the warmer months I wear those tiny, no show socks. During the colder months I wear knee high, fuzzy socks. This helps keep my body warm and allows me to turn the thermostat down a little bit.

I also wear a very loose cardigan over a tee shirt. Tee shirts are a good pick for me year round, but during the colder months my arms would get cold. I prefer an open cardigan instead of a sweater because I can easily remove it if I need to.

Lower the thermostat

Now this one is a little controversial for most people. I keep the central air on auto and keep it at 65 degrees to prevent the pipes from freezing. The space heaters come into play to heat the rooms currently being used. This way I can keep the entire apartment warm but have the currently used room at a higher temperature.

Every degree you turn your thermostat down can save your money. The trick is to find a happy medium. You do NOT want to turn the central heating off and risk your pipes freezing and then bursting.

In my case I do not want the central air coming on too frequently because the gas cost is high. I use the electric heaters as those raised my utility bill only slightly, even when running more frequently than the central air.