When it comes to heating your house, we have a few simple tips & tricks to save money on your power bill. The more energy you use to heat, the higher your bill is going to be. So, what would be ideal? Free heating! The sun is our best friend, even in winter!
Through the years we have discovered and learned a few simple tricks to take in as much free heat and trap it for as long as possible, so we can enjoy the free heat for longer and save on our power bill.
Free heating through Windows
Your house looses a lot of heat through windows, but that’s not all bad. They take IN heat very easy too, like a green house.
The moment the sun rises, open/remove all the window coverings (curtains, blinds, whatever you use) and let the sun warm up your house! Free heating! But, be smart. Only open up the coverings where the sun actually shines through. So, on the sunny side of your house, open everything up. On the shady side, keep everything closed. This lets the heat in on one side and trap it on the other side.
The more window covering you have, the better. Close both blinds and curtains, as this all acts as insulation. Insulation saves heating, as the heat escapes less quickly.
Also very important, the way you close your coverings, horizontal blinds (Venetian blinds) in particular, as they can ‘direct’ the heat. The way you shut them makes a big difference in how much heat you can retain and for how long. Make sure the slats are aimed outwards and upwards. Always think of this: Warm air wants to go up and cold air wants to go down. Act accordingly.
You don’t want to loose the precious heat to the cold surface of the window, so you have to make sure those two don’t meet, as the cold will always win that battle.
Here’s a drawing which hopefully explains it a bit more. Slats upwards and outwards.
Get it wrong and you’ll make the heat go out and the cold come in.
Also remember; close all window coverings when the sun is going to set. The sun isn’t powerful anymore at that point and it will be dark soon anyway. Time to trap that heat in! Yay for savings!!
Avoid electric heating
Electric heating is convenient, but very expensive to run! The average electric heater uses about 60 cents of power every hour! Leave it on from 5pm to 11pm every day and it would cost you over $100 per month!
It’s a good idea to use the oven for dinner, so you can use that leftover heat. You’d be surprised how much leftover heat an oven produces, which was not used to bake your delicious pizza! It often keeps our room comfortable for the rest of the evening (we have an open kitchen plan).
And when you do get the chills, get a blanket!
Only use an electric heater at the point where you think to yourself; “Ok, this is just sad”. It all depends on how much of a hardcore saver you want to be.
Get a dehumidifier
Mold on walls and ceilings is a strong signal your house (and the air you breathe) is not healthy. It’s too damp, too cold or there isn’t enough air circulation. Mold loves that!
A damp house is harder to heat and it doesn’t feel that comfortable either. So, you can kill two birds with one stone here; Decrease the power bill and increase your health!
Dehumidifiers are pretty expensive, yes, but oh my, they’re worth it! Definitely! They range from, say, about $100 to $600, depending on their power (2L/day, 10L/day, 16L/day, etc), brand and whether or not they have an inbuilt heater.
Our dehumidifier guzzles up around 4 liters (almost 1 gallon) of moisture a day. It makes a huge difference. And with its inbuilt heater, it also warms up the area.
A much better way to get rid of the humidity is of course opening windows, but sometimes it’s too cold, not possible or unsafe. A dehumidifier is then the answer.
Find more ways to save on the electricity bill in the energy category!
Questions?
Have any questions or want to share your own heating solutions? We’d love to hear it! Leave your comment below.
