How to save money on heating costs

Last update: August 5, 2024

There are six main strategies for saving money on heat:

1. Use wall-mounted heat pumps, not central heat.  Central systems are wasteful for many reasons:
1. Most ducts are leaky.  Not some of them, most of them, according to the studies.
2. Attics are hot or cold.  Even non-leaky ducts that run through attics lose a lot of heat/cold to the attic air, because ducts have only a trivial amount of insulation around them.
3. “I love your site, I have cut my oil bill in half by using space heaters which has really saved me money as a direct result of your advice.” —Andrew G.
   [Note: Space heaters usually save $ only if you have an electric furnace.  To save when your central heat uses a different kind of fuel, read the article on this page.  Also be careful with space heaters: fires from space heaters cause 70 deaths per year. (CPSC 2023)]
   Heating your whole house is more expensive than heating just part of it, if you heat individual rooms with heat pump heaters that install in or on the wall or window.  (There's no savings if you use electric space heaters or window/wall units that use resistance heat, since they're inefficient.  The heat pump is the secret sauce.)  They come in two flavors:  a mini-split system that has an air handler that mounts on the wall, or a window unit that you mount in the window or by cutting a hole in the wall so you don't waste your window.  Once you've got your room-based heat pumps installed, you can heat only the parts of the house you're using, and you can set different temperatures for different rooms.  Of course, if you already have a functioning furnace, then the cost of buying and installing heat pumps will outweigh the operating savings.  But, if you're about to replace your furnace, or you're building a new home, then now's the time to choose room-based heat pumps.  (Note, if you thought you could heat only part of your house with a central system by closing registers in unused rooms, know that that can damage your ducts or even the furnace itself). (Lawrence Berkeley Labs)
   
4. Central systems typically burn fuel, like natural gas or fuel oil.  That means they create heat.  By contrast, heat pumps simply move existing heat, by extracting it from the outside air (even from sub-freezing air).  They're so efficient that even when the source of the electricity is "dirty" (e.g., the power plant burns coal), there's still an overall reduction in greenhouse emissions. (Heatmap, citing NREL) 
2. Adjust your living environment so that you're comfortable at lower temperatures. This includes using ceiling fans (yes, fans, even in winter; I'll explain below), putting rugs on bare floors, and keeping yourself warm with things like heating pads and warming blocks.  Warming yourself is a lot cheaper than trying to warm your whole house.  Warm yourself, and then turn your thermostat down to 67°F or lower.
   
   
3. Insulate your home well to keep heat from escaping out of the house.  You want to pay to heat only your home, not Wisconsin. This includes things like weather stripping doors and windows and putting plastic sheets over windows.
   
   
4. Turn it off when you don't need it.  Turn your heat off (or way down) at night, and when you're away from home.  Contrary to popular myth, it does not cost more to re-heat the home than it does to constantly heat it.
   
   
5. When installing a new heating system, don't oversize it.  Most HVAC installers install a bigger system than you need.  This doesn't warm your home any better, and you just wind up spending a lot more for the installation.  Get a heating system no larger than what your house requires.
   

Here's more detail about #s 2-5.

(2) Adjust your living environment so you feel warmer at cooler temperatures

Tips to help you dial down the thermostat

Use ceiling fans

In the summer, when the fan is on a high speed, the fan blows air past you, removing the hot air that surrounds your body, making you feel cooler.  It's the wind-chill effect.  In the winter, you simply put the fan on the lowest speed.  That way the fan isn't fast enough for the wind chill effect to kick in, but it's fast enough to push down the warm air that collects near the ceiling. (Remember, hot air rises.)  So the key is: fast speed for summer, slow speed for winter.

If the fan gives you a wind-chill effect even on the slow speed, then just change the direction of the fan by using the switch on the side.  You'll have the fan blow UP in the winter, which will push the warm air off the ceiling and bounce it back towards the floor along the walls, without rushing it past you to make you feel cooler.  (See the sidebar for how to change the direction.)

If you don't have ceiling fans (and don't care to install them), you have a couple of other options.  First, you can just get a regular box fan, put it on the highest shelf you have, and aim it at the ceiling at an angle.  Fans of any type use very little electricity.  Or, you can turn on the fan on your central heating system, without turning on the heat.  (The fan-only in circulation mode typically uses about 325-475 watts on PSC/AC models, and 25 watts for variable-speed DC. (BC Hydro, plus my own measurement for the 475-watt figure)

Using ceiling fans is one of the most important things you can do. They use very little electricity and make a BIG difference in your comfort level. All ceiling fans come with instructions on installation, but if you're not comfortable doing it yourself and you can't afford to hire someone, just get a regular box fan, put it on the highest shelf you have, and aim it at the ceiling.  Fans of any type use very little electricity.

Keep your feet warm

Wear more clothes

Personal Heaters!

Now go to Part 2 of Saving Energy on Heat
or my Questions & Answers about Heating Costs