Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

How to Keep Warm without Heating Up Your Bill

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Bundle up, America: it’s going to be a cold winter.

The Energy Department expects the price of natural gas to increase a whopping 13 percent over last year’s rates, to the tune of about $679. Homeowners using electricity to warm their abodes can expect a 2 percent increase in heating costs.

If this news isn’t enough to make you shiver, experts predict this winter will be colder than it has been over the last two years. In addition to stockpiling blankets and tea bags, consider these tips to stay warm this winter without overheating your energy bill.

1. Look for Leaks
No matter how high you crank up that thermostat, your house will never be warm enough if your doors and windows aren’t properly sealed. Take the time to test air loss throughout your home and properly seal the areas prone to leakage, including baseboards, attic hatches and electrical outlets. The Department of Energy’s article on detecting air leaks can help you cover all your bases.

2. Ask for a Free Audit
Most energy companies offer free home audits that offer expert-level understanding of where your home is losing heat. If you’re lucky, a few strips of duct tape may be all you need to repair leaky ductwork. It’s probably a good idea to schedule an audit after you make the effort to patch air leaks to determine if you missed anything.

3. Start with the Attic
A well-insulated attic to save you up to 50 percent on your heating bill, so evaluate the insulation levels in your attic and replenish accordingly. Additionally, check the air seal around attic access points as these are often overlooked and can result in significant heat loss. For more information on how to properly insulate your attic, read these tips from the experts at This Old House.

4. Get on a Schedule
If you haven’t purchased a programmable thermostat, this year is definitely the time to invest. You can save up to 10 percent on these devices by purchasing discount gift cards through GiftCardGranny.com to Lowe’s or Home Depot. Once you find a device you like, create a schedule you can stick to and remember to adjust it when you leave for extended periods of time.

5. Condense Your Space
By closing windows and doors to unused rooms, it will take less time and ultimately less energy to heat the areas you use most. You can go so far as to place a towel at the base of closed doors to better lock in the heat. Make sure ceiling fans in heated rooms are reversed and on low to better circulate warm air. Don’t forget to open your shades during the day–the sun’s rays will naturally warm up your home.

6. Consider a Space Heater
Space heaters offer supplemental heat without increasing your heating bill. According to Consumer Reports, you can buy top-rated heaters for as little as $40 while keeping your thermostat set to as low as 60 degrees. Safety is paramount, so read up on user and expert reviews before purchasing a unit and place it on ceramic tile instead of carpet or table tops.

7. Bundle Up
Nothing says cozy like a good down comforter, heavy blanket and flannel sheets. When in doubt, keep the thermostat low and stock up on warm bedding and toasty attire. Flannel sheets will do the trick too and you can usually find fun prints that your kiddos will love to sleep with. I personally enjoy a cooler night’s rest bundled under covers. I recommend searching for quality bedding at discount retailers like Homegoods and TJMax. Otherwise, wait until Veteran’s Day for deals at department stores like Macy’s.

Balanced Billing: Budget Helper

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In our house, we have a gas fueled furnace for heat and an electric fueled central air unit.  So, as you can likely deduce, our gas bill is much higher in the winter months and our electric bill is much higher in the summer months.  But, our bill hardly ever fluctuates.  Why is that?  We’ve got both bills set up on a little budget helper called balanced billing. It’s a lifesaver when it comes to doing a budget, and it offsets those peak months like the Money Beagle just had.

How does it Work?  It’s pretty simple really.  The gas/electric company takes our bills for the last year and adds them all up and then divides by 12.  That’s our bill for the month.  With the gas company, it adjusts each month, so we’ll see a variation of up to $10 or so dollars each month.  And with the electric company, they adjust once a year so we usually end up with a little bit higher bill (about $20) for one month to make up for any difference and then it’s back to where it was.  I highly recommend it.

How is Balanced Billing a budget helper?

Here’s a little anecdotal story to cement the need for such a program.  When I was still in college, I lived with 4 other guys in this awesome old house.  It didn’t have air, so it was warm in the summer.  In the winter, it had a gas fueled boiler that fed those old registers in each room.  The first winter we lived there, our typical gas bill up to that point had been about $200.  Not bad when you split it 5 ways.  Then we had a particularly cold November.  Our bill in December was over $650!  Obviously, it was a bit of a shock to us when our heating bill was more than the rent each month!  Luckily, we were all pretty good friends and a couple of the guys floated the rest of us some money to help pay for the bill.  But, imagine what would have happened if that had happened to a family that was living paycheck to paycheck?  Even if you aren’t living paycheck to paycheck, imagine what that would do to your budget!

And that, my dear readers, is why balanced billing can be such a wonderful budget helper.  If you’re interested, it usually just takes a quick phone call to the utility company to get it set up.