What are some good ways to conserve on home heating, yet stay warm?

Question

I have lived most of my life in Wisconsin, but I am currently living in western South Dakota. It gets plenty cold here. I am not worried about the heating expense, just that I want to conserve and be a bit more eco-friendly. What are good ways to conserve home energy in the winter?

Answer 1

If you can, use the plastic. Use flannel sheets on your at night. You can turn down the heat then. My daughter said to she uses electric heat towers. She said her electric is cheaper this way, than using her gas. If you live where you have access to woods, buy an outside wood burner. Ours is a Central Boiler,(we enclosed ours) they call it. We have hot water heat. We heat the house, garage,basement, water tank and another big building. I love it. We have propane and only fill our tank for cooking and also heating our water tank in the summer when we turn off the wood burner. Once a year. If your a handy man or have one. Maybe he or she can install it and then save alot of money. We have six thermostats in our house and we can control them each with whatever temperature we want. He calls them heat zones. You can tell I'm proud of him.

Answer 2

Hi, I'm in shipping and deal with truckers from Wisconsin and Fargo,ND all the time and I'm from NH. I've done a few tricks
that really help. One is to take all the electrical outlet covers off,and use the spray on insulation in a can and fill it in.You will be amazed how much that helps.Also spray it on any pipes that may be in your cellar or mobile home--hot and cold feeds.Also use the plastic film you can buy at like home depot
or lowes over your windows and then use a hair dryer over it
and you will see at least a 10 percent drop in heat loss.The only other things that I can think of besides keeping furnace clean is to use caulking around doors,windows, air conditioning units--oh and a big plus if you have an attic
is make sure its insulated,if not all the other things won't matter to much.Good luck,and stay warm,Chris.

Answer 3

Check around your home for obvious draughts and deal with them. Don't cover all your ventilation if you have gas though. If you notice a lot of draught from around the windows get the film like others have suggested - it is worth it in the long run. Close your curtains just before dark and flip the bottoms up so they sit on the windowsill - especially if like mine they have a radiator under them. If you have blinds add cutains to - it will apy in the long run. Put thin card covered in aluminium foil - like you use in the oven behind the radiators to reflect heat back into the room - double side it to reflect cold out. Cover doors with a good thick curtain too and draught exclude your letterbox. When you finish cooking leave the oven door open to spread the residual heat through the house. If you have a wood burner of open fire try making your own blocks with waste paper - you can get a mould that squeezes it all into shape - it's free! Good luck.

Answer 4

Since one of the biggest energy users is the hot water heater, buying the most efficient one is important. There are also some new types which eliminate the big tank and are said to be much more efficient.
Short of that, a cheap but efficient help is to put a water heater blanket (a big fiberglas wrap you can buy for about $20. . . . I just put one around ours today!) around your water heater tank.
Another obvious thing a lot of people ignore -- turn the heat way down when you're not going to be home for several hours!

Answer 5

Good and thick insulation in walls, good windows that are leak proof or cover with shrink wrap and use insulating strips in-between and around windows, install the insulated covers for outlets, especially the ones on the outside walls. Keep heat low , around 65 degrees and /or dress warmer inside and use a small portable heater in one room. Wrap your hot water heater and pipes to insulate. Make sure your doors have weatherstripping around them too. If you have a fireplace..use it. Dress in layers inside and wear socks too. I use an electric blanket too. My heat is all electric and very expensive. Call your utility company and get on their equal payment plan. They can also give you ways to conserve heat.

Answer 6

plastic on the windows -
double check vents that come from the floor ( some have them in walls ) make sure there are no gaps -
buy draft dodgers or roll up towels for inner/outer doors-
if you have dont have doors all through out your house - as ghetto as it is hang up sheets or curtains in open doorways - for example you dont spend a lot of time in the kitchen 0 close that vent and hang sheets so that no heat lingers in there - if you are cooking in the kitchen the heat from the oven and stove should help keep you warm -
if you spend a lot of time in one particular room buy a space heater and only turn on the house heater before bed - or showers - or in the am when waking up -

Answer 7

as an insulation contractor I would suggest that6 you have your house thermally scanned for vapor leaks then seal all of them. Secondly, check all electrical outlets for drafts. They sell foam backing insulators for this. Turn down the heat and wear long johns and sweaters. The problem with bundling up is now there is excessive laundry. Hot water and electricity.......Need to balance cold washing with cleanliness. Blankets, blankets, blankets!

Answer 8

You may have to cover the windows with plastic, or put a cover over the window. No heat will get out, so you will be able to set your heat to a low setting, and be comfortable all winter! I did it, and it works pretty good!

Answer 9

I do not like plastic up at my windows but it does work.
Also a electric blanket.
You can keep your heat down all night....if your a out of bed shower person get you a small space heater to put in bathroom to warm up fast while showering.

Answer 10

How insulated is your house? Do you have a fire place? Just wearing warm clothes around the house should help. Also, your feet and head regulater most body heat. You could wear a hat and socks.