Heating and Fireplaces

• In the heating season, set your thermostat at 68 degrees or lower during the day, health permitting. Keep warm indoors by wearing warm clothing, especially several light-weight layers. Savings: 5-10% of space heating costs.
  
• Set your thermostat back to 55 degrees before you go to bed at night or when you’ll be away from home for more than four hours, health permitting. (Heat pumps should only be set back five degrees to prevent unneeded use of backup strip heater.) Savings: 5-20% of space heating costs.
  
• For every degree you lower your heat in the 60-degree to 70-degree range, you’ll save up to 5% on heating costs.
  
• Install clock thermostats or set-back thermostats to automatically change thermostat settings at certain times of the day. For example, set your clock thermostat at 55 degrees or off for the night and 68 degrees for the time right before you wake up.
  
• Keep your thermostat away from open windows and drafts. The cool air will make your heating system work harder.
  
• Don’t block heating outlets or return registers with furniture or other objects.
  
• Don’t turn your thermostat higher than normal to heat your home faster. It doesn’t work.
  
• If your home has individual room controls, close off heating to rooms and areas that don’t need it. Central forced air heating with one or two centrally located returns requires that doors be opened to work properly. Savings: Up to 10% of space heating costs.
  
• Keep your furnace clean, lubricated and properly adjusted. Clean or replace the filter regularly. Savings: Up to 5% of space heating costs.
  
• Get your ducts tested for air leakage. Leaking ducts can reduce the efficiency of your heating system by up to 30%.
  
• Use passive solar heating on sunny days. Open the drapes on windows facing south and let the sun shine in. At night close the drapes to retain indoor heat. If you have a large expanse of glass that doesn’t receive direct sun, keep the drapes closed. Up to 16% of your heat can escape through unprotected windows.
  
• Use insulating shutters or drapes and keep them closed during winter nights and summer days. Savings: 8-15% of space heating costs.
  
• If you are planning to replace your windows, choose
  Energy Star windows. Savings: 15% of cooling and heating costs.
  
• Keep all your exterior doors tightly shut and try to avoid frequent in-and-out traffic. Stylish, padded door runners help reduce drafts under doorways (in a pinch, towels also work).
  
• Close all openings to cooling units (evaporative coolers, wall and window air conditioners) to keep the heat in.
  
• Caulk cracks around your windows and doors.
  
• Weather strip your windows and doorways.
  
• Add insulation to your attic if it’s uninsulated or inadequately insulated.
  
• Plug gaps around pipes, ducts, fans and vents that go through walls, ceilings and floors from heated to unheated spaces. Savings: 1-3% of space heating costs.
  
• Seal off electric receptacles and switch boxes with foam gaskets or fiberglass insulation. Savings: 1-3% of heating/cooling costs.
  
• Install glass doors in front of fireplace to help keep warm air in the home.
  
• Add a cast-iron fireback to your fireplace to promote heat transfer into the room.
  
• Check your fireplace flue. The hot air emitted from your heating system escapes out of your chimney almost as effectively as heat and smoke from your fireplace do. When you’re not using the fireplace, close the damper tightly. Turn your heater(s) down when you’re using your fireplace. Savings: 2-8% of space heating costs.