Saving Money with a gas heater?

Question

I just moved into a house with a gas heater. I've heard the bill this winter is going to eat me alive! Any tips on how to save money?

Answer 1

1. Install a 7 day automatic set back thermostat, and program it to match your lifestyle (e.g. raise temp to 65 in the morning while you get ready for work, set back temp to 60 while you're out, set to 67 when you return for the evening, set back to 55 while you sleep, etc). You can always override the setback when you're home. The point is to have it set back automatically, every day, so you don't forget.

2. Wear sweaters & turtlenecks in the house so you can keep temperature lower than usual

3. Buy small electric space heater (oil filled) for use in the one room where you spend time in the evening,

4. Use a down comforter on the beds so you'll be comfortable when temperature is down at nite.

5. Seal the doors and windows and other places where there are air leaks into the house. Best time to check is on a cold, windy nite - walk around, feel the drafts, and mark them to fix. The cold air drafts both force the heater to come on more often, and make you feel colder so you're tempted to turn up the heater.

6. If you have rooms you don't use often, close the heating registers into those rooms, and keep the doors shut, so you're heating less total space. Don't do this for bathrooms on exterior walls, however - they may need the heat to keep the pipes from freezing.

7. Snuggle more often (either w/ dogs or humans).

Answer 2

I prefer gas heaters(assuming that it is a central air system) but the most important(one of the most important aspects of this) is the age of the unit that you have.. If it is 12 or more years old, then the efficiency of it might be to the point where it will eat your dollars for heating expenses.

Answer 3

Gas heat is usually cheaper than electric heat. If you have ceiling fans there is a switch you can push to make the fan blow upwards so it will push the heat from the ceiling down around the outside of the walls. This recirculation of the heat will help save money.

Answer 4

Turn it off and buy electric radiators?
Funny, here in Italy gas is much cheaper than electric.