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November

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By Angell Aire /

Heating your home can be expensive, and while everyone should strive for energy-efficiency, projects to make your home more efficient are costly. Thankfully, there are plenty of affordable ways to keep warm air inside your home this winter. Make a few changes to your home to use your heater as little as possible while remaining toasty warm.

Change Furnace Filter

If you haven’t changed your furnace filter in a while, you are forcing your heater to work harder, which will cost you money. With a new filter, air flow is optimized and heat can be more easily distributed to the rest of your house. Remember, you should be changing your air filter about every three months, especially if you have pets in your house. If you need to order filters, you can contact us.

Draft Protection

You can purchase draft protectors to put underneath the doors in your home to keep cold air out. There are always going to be some spots in your house where a draft can sneak in, even if you think you’re well protected. Try to figure out areas where cold air enters your warm home. Focus on insulating your house to keep warm air inside and cold air outside.

Heavy Curtains 

Heavy curtains are another great way to insulate your house. If the sun is shining, it may be best to let the sun enter your windows and warm up your house. But for many people, their local climate does not allow for winter sun. If that is the case for you, it’s best to keep heavy curtains closed in order to keep out any wind from blowing through your windows. Purchase thick curtains that are designed to minimize window drafts.

Cook at Home 

Cooking at home, especially using the oven, will help add heat into your house. When you use your oven, keep the door open after you’ve finished cooking. All the excess heat that built up in the oven will enter your home and can cut back significantly on cold air, especially if you’ve taken other precautions to insulate your house properly.

Don’t Block the Radiator 

If you use a radiator for heat, you need to be smart about how you arrange furniture around it. While radiators can be an eyesore and you may be tempted to put an armchair or couch in front of it, doing so will limit the amount of heat that fills your home. You want to make sure the space in front of the radiator is clear so that it can properly distribute heat.

Seal Fireplace 

Using a fireplace isn’t the most efficient way to heat your home, but if you leave your fireplace open all winter, you may lose a significant amount of heat by not sealing it up. You can purchase fireplace plugs that go over your flue vent so you can rest assured no warm air is escaping through the flue.

It only takes small changes to your house to significantly change the amount of warm air that remains inside. You can lower your energy bill and keep warm by following the tips listed above.