When it comes to heating your home this winter, the rising cost of electricity, natural gas, propane, food and consumer goods may have you thinking twice about turning up the dial on your furnace. So how can you stay warm while keeping your monthly heating bills under control?
At our showroom in Middleton, we hear from customers all the time looking for ways to trim their heating bills while still keeping their home warm and cozy, and we’d like to share our top tips with you.
- Turn Down the Thermostat and Bundle Up
- Only Heat the Rooms You Use with Zone Heating
- Burn Wood or Pellet as a Primary or Secondary Heat Source
Let’s break these down one at a time:
Did you know most people report that an interior temperature of 72 degrees is most comfortable? But gradually lowering your home to 68 degrees generally is still very comfortable for most people and barely noticeable. And the savings can add up. According to an article on smartenergy.com, for every degree you lower your thermostat, you reduce your electric bill by 1-3%.
If you’re feeling chilled after lowering your thermostat, make up the difference by putting on a warm sweater, which, according to the same article, adds four degrees of warmth. Bundle up and you’ll be on your way to lowering your bills.
Another easy way to reduce your heating costs is to strategically heat only the rooms you spend time in. By not heating the entire house, you can save on overall heating expenses.
Zone heating can be done two ways.
1. The Close-Off Method
The easiest is to close heat vents in unused rooms, blocking the flow of heated air from coming inside. You may also want to close doors to stop warm air from drifting into unused rooms or floors, especially if your unused rooms are in an upper level since heat rises and you’ll continually have to reheat the lower room.
2. The Zoned Heat Source Method
The second way is to turn down the furnace thermostat for the whole house and bring in another heat source for primary rooms that you’d like to keep warm with zone heating. Many of our customers install a gas insert, fireplace or stove to create a cozy living space that allows for comfortable zone heating.
Gas Inserts
Do you have a room you’d like to zone heat, but you have an old wood fireplace in it that no longer works, is unsafe, and is leaking in cold air? You can install a gas insert directly into the existing wood fireplace, converting the old fireplace from wood to gas in as little as a day.
Gas inserts are designed to retrofit into your existing opening, sealing up leaky air drafts and providing comfortable heat at the press of a button. We are an authorized dealer for Heat & Glo gas inserts, one of the best brands on the market. These inserts feature modern technology and designs, like options for different colored fronts to match your home decor. Our most popular models are the Heat & Glo Escape and the Heat & Glo Supreme. Learn more about gas inserts and download our Guide to Gas Inserts here.
Gas Fireplaces
Adding a gas fireplace to a wall in your home or a freestanding gas stove are also great options for zone heating. Our top models of gas fireplaces are the Heat & Glo 6000 and Heat & Glo SlimLine (which can be installed on narrow interior walls and vented outside).
Gas Stoves
Popular gas stoves include the Vermont Castings Intrepid or larger model the Vermont Castings Radiance. Both Heat & Glo and Vermont Castings come with remote controls that allow you set a thermostat to provide even heating at a reasonable temperature.
For those looking to truly save on heating costs, wood can often be more economical to burn (although it is more work for the homeowner than natural gas or propane). We’ll cover this in the next section.
According to an article in Masslive.com from March 2022, natural gas prices in Massachusetts are high (and rising) because of a limited supply pipeline. Burning wood or wood pellets can provide a more price conscious heat while also being environmentally friendly, as wood is a renewable energy source.
Adding in a wood fireplace is oftentimes not an option due to building codes and space, but a wood stove can easily be installed in many rooms. Modern wood stoves feature advanced technology, which means these little stoves provide long, even burn times and temp control thermostats offer a comfortable budget-friendly experience.
Wood Stoves
Our best-selling wood stoves include Quadra-Fire’s Discovery I, which provides a convenient storage bin for a day’s worth of wood and features Quadra-Fire’s ACC (automatic combustion control). Another excellent option we recommend for small or mid-sizes spaces is the Vermont Castings Aspen C3. Both of these wood stoves qualify for a 26% Federal Tax Credit, which the government announced in 2021. This is a great incentive to purchase a wood stove.
Already have a wood fireplace?
If your home has a wood-burning fireplace that is not in working order, you may want to contact a reputable chimney repair company to see if you can get it back into working order.
Wood Inserts
Another option is to install a wood insert into your existing wood-burning fireplace opening. An insert will seal up your old leaky fireplace opening and make burning a fire possible again. Inserts slide into your existing hearth opening and use new venting installed into your existing chimney. They include air-tight doors for a seal that keeps warm arm in the room and prevents the heat from escaping. If you’re considering a wood insert, we recommend either the Quadra-Fire Expedition II or the Vermont Castings Montpelier II, both of which are easy to install and use. These wood inserts will keep your home warm and toasty while allowing you the convenience of warming your home with an alternative source to expensive natural gas.
For anyone concerned about having your utilities shut off during the winter, the state of Massachusetts does have security measures in place to help, as well as guidelines around household circumstances.
Finding the Right Stove or Insert
If you’d like help finding a new heat source for your home mentioned in this article, we’d be honored to show you the best solution for your home and budget. Visit our showroom at 140 South Main Street, Middleton, MA 01949 or give us a call at (978) 208-2795.
