Enjoy cool savings and a warmer home

• Get with the program. A programmable thermostat gives you the best of both worlds: you wake up to a warm home, and save money by keeping the place cooler when you’re not there. If you have baseboard heating, look for a special kit with multiple units.

• Turn it down. For every degree you lower your thermostat in winter, you’ll save about 1% on your bills.

In the furnace room

• Keep it clean. Replace (or rinse washable) furnace filters at least every three months — more often if you have pets or have been doing home renovations. You could save 5% on your heating costs.

• Seal it tight. Check that any exposed duct work in the basement is sealed and not leaking air. If it is leaking air, seal with aluminum foil tape. Damaged or blocked ducts can reduce efficiency by up to 20%.

• Wrap it up. Wrap up your water heater in an insulated water-heater cover, insulate hot water pipes that run through unheated parts of the house and turn the water temperature down a notch.

On the windows

• Let the sunshine in. Open the drapes during daylight hours (especially on south- and west-facing windows) to capture the sun’s warmth. Close all drapes at night to keep heat in.

• Cut the grime. Give your south-facing windows a winter cleaning — dirt can actually block the heat.

• Make things clear. Clear plastic heat control window film applied directly to your window panes prevents heat loss.

Around the house

• Seal the cracks. Weatherstrip around doors, lock and caulk unused windows, insulate electrical outlets with simple gaskets from the hardware store and use spray foam in gaps around plumbing pipes entering from outside. Potential savings: 25% of your heating bill.

• Close it. Close the fireplace flue and doors to any unheated, uninsulated spaces such as garage, mud room or basement. Make sure the garage door is tightly closed too.
• Shut up. Close the vents on unused rooms like a dining room or spare bedroom. Install deflectors on forced air heating vents in other rooms to direct warm air into the room instead of against cooler walls. If you have radiant heat, install a radiator foil behind each unit.