With prices continually increasing, saving money everywhere you can is vital. For grocery shopping, it’s using more coupons and looking for deals; it’s all about being more energy efficient with your utilities as well.
Heating costs can be especially high, with cold weather coming sooner and seeming to last longer than in the past. Making your home and heating more energy efficient can help you save money. Here are some short-term and long-term tips to help you start saving on your heating bills:
How to Save Money on Heating Bills in the Short-Term
Setting your home up to be more energy efficient will help you save money on heat in the winter and help make your home more comfortable year-round.
1. Ensure That Your Home is Properly Insulated
Insulation is vital to keeping your home cool in warmer months and warm in colder months. If your home isn’t properly insulated, heat will leak through the walls, floor, and ceiling. This, in turn, will force your system to have to work harder as it tries to make up the loss, which can lead to higher energy bills.
High energy bills in the winter, fluctuating temperatures, indoor condensation, and drafts are some signs of poor insulation to look for. While adding more insulation would be best, it is also expensive. Some short-term things you can do to save money on heat include:
- Use Thermal Curtains: Thermal curtains act as insulation that blocks cool drafts during the winter.
- Insulate Electrical Outlets and Switches: Despite their size, outlets and switches are significant areas for heat loss. Installing foam gaskets behind each outlet and switch can help block some of that loss, but a carefully-applied layer of spray foam will be most effective.
- Insulate the Attic: While you may not have easy access to the inside of your walls, you can access your attic. Adding insulation will help insulate the space.
- Insulate the Water Pipes: Insulating your water pipes will reduce heat loss and raise water temperature.
- Seal Windows and Doors: Damaged window and door seals are another significant cause of heat loss. Weatherstripping and window sweeps are two helpful options to seal gaps.
- Caulking: Another way to seal drafty window and door areas is to recaulk windows and exterior doors.
- Insulate HVAC Ducts: Cracked or broken HVAC ductwork will also result in large amounts of heat loss. Sealing damaged ductwork will lower the heating cost.
- Insulate The Floors: You can also insulate your floors using a product like Warmup Ultralight™ Insulation Boards or Insulated Underlay under the radiant heated flooring.
2. Replace Old Windows
Sealing windows can help save on heat bills, but the older your windows are, the less energy-efficient they are. Older windows typically use pane glass, which isn’t very efficient. New windows are designed to better prevent air from getting in or out of your home. Many also use Low E glass, which helps maintain consistent temperatures and is less likely to fade. Opting for windows with the ENERGY STAR certification will ensure you get energy-efficient replacements that will bring energy savings.
3. Lower Your Thermostat
It may sound counterintuitive to keep your house warm, but for every degree you lower the temperature and keep it there for more than 8 hours, you can save up to 1% on your heating bill. Set your thermostat back 7°-10° while you sleep, and wait until you see your next bill. 1% per degree may seem insignificant, but it will add up.
4. Install a Smart Thermostat
Another way to save on heating costs is to install a smart thermostat in your home. A smart thermostat allows you to control the temperature in different areas of your home, set home and away schedules, control it from your phone, and so much more. A smart thermostat can reduce your overall energy usage by 25%.
Warmup offers two smart thermostat models worth considering. First is the more advanced 6iE Smart WiFi Thermostat, the first underfloor heating controller to have a Smartphone touchscreen. It has many energy-saving features designed to ensure the efficiency of an underfloor heating system that can save you up to $500 on your energy bill. It is also compatible with home automation systems like Amazon Alexa through the IFTTT application.
The Terra Wifi Thermostat has many similar features, but it has a more simplistic interface that makes it easier to use.
5. Change Your Air Filters
Forced-air furnaces, heat pumps, and air conditions all rely on filters. It is critical to check them regularly and clean or replace them as the manufacturer recommends. This will keep your system working at peak performance and prevent potential problems like poor air quality and higher energy bills.
How to Save on Heating Costs in the Long-Term
With energy prices continually rising, you can’t only rely on short-term methods for saving on heating bills. You should also take time to make long-term changes to make your home more energy-efficient. Some long-term changes you can make are:
6. Replace Your Heating System
If your current heat pump is over 10 years old and your furnace is 15 years or older, it is worth considering replacing your system, especially if you’re seeing an increase in your energy bills.
There are many options you can consider for new systems. You can stick with a traditional HVAC system or go with a ground or air-source heat pump, a biomass boiler, or a solar thermal system. You can have backup power from solar panels and batteries to add more sustainability.
While opting for some of these heating methods can be expensive, they will help lower your carbon footprint and may also lessen the impact of energy-market disruptions.
How to Reduce Heating Costs by Adding a Supplemental Heating Source
7. Radiant Floor Heating
If you don’t need to update your system, consider adding a supplemental system, like radiant floor heating. This will be a more effective option than space heaters and help you keep your central system lower, which will help you save on heating bill costs.
Radiant floor heating is a heating system installed under a flooring material and is up to 40% more efficient at heating a home than a traditional system, which helps to save on heat bills. It uses infrared energy, which heats a space from the ground up, rather than just heating the air, which greatly minimizes heat loss.
Floor heating systems use radiant heat technology to create the heat they produce. As mentioned before, it works by heating a room from the ground up, first warming objects it comes into contact with, including floors, furniture, and people. Radiant heat flooring is typically powered in one of two ways: by electricity or by water.
Heated flooring warms up quicker than traditional systems, and it takes about 20 minutes to reach optimal temperatures, which are also lower than a typical heating system. This allows the heated flooring to use less energy which helps to save you money.
Warmup offers numerous electric radiant heating solutions suitable for use in a home.
The DCM-PRO System is an option that offers wide compatibility with flooring materials, and pairs well with everything from tile to carpet. Another widely compatible option is the StickyMat System, while the Foil Heater System is geared for laminate, engineered wood, and carpet.
Curious about how to save on heating bill costs with radiant floor heating? Learn more about the system running costs and potential savings for a Warmup system.
Does Radiant Heating Work with Solar Power?
Radiant floor heating and solar power work extremely well together, by relying on similar methods to create warmth. You can use batteries to create an energy storage system that is charged by solar energy in order to power a radiant flooring system
How to Reduce Heating Bills and Stay Warm Doing It
Energy costs aren’t going down anytime soon, so it is important to do everything you can to save. While short-term tips like curtains and insulation make a difference, you also don’t want to ignore long-term solutions, like a new or supplemental radiant heating system. They can significantly impact how much you can save on your heating costs. Warmup is an excellent addition to any home, new or old, and you’ll feel a difference immediately–and start seeing it in your bill.
Contact us today to learn more about how to save on heating bill costs with a radiant floor heating system!
