Simple Winter Energy Saving Tips
Stay Cozy and Save Money Each Winter Season
We’ve got five tips to help you keep warm and comfortable in your home this winter—and those winters to come—all while keeping heating costs better under control.
- Get a heating system tune-up. It’s never too late to schedule seasonal maintenance for your heating equipment! A tune-up ensures that your furnace or boiler is running smoothly, so you’ll use less fuel to keep your home warm. Our certified service technicians check for and fix problems that can decrease performance and efficiency, or could lead to breakdowns, no-heat emergencies, and expensive repairs.
- Use your programable thermostat. Used correctly, a programmable thermostat can help you lower your heating costs by 10% or more. To maximize your savings, follow these two easy steps:
- When you’re at home and awake, set the thermostat for 68°.
- Lower the setting by 10° when you’re sleeping or out of the house.
Smart thermostats make it even easier! They learn your heating and cooling habits and create a schedule that matches them. Some even connect with your home automation system like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.
- Turn down your water heater temperature. Most water heaters have a default setting of 140°. That’s not only dangerous, it’s also inefficient. Reducing the temperature setting to 120° will meet all your hot water needs and save as much as 10% in heating costs. When you consider that heating water—for bathing, dishwashing, laundry and more—accounts for close to 20% of your heating costs, you may want to talk to us about upgrading your water heater to a high-efficiency model that can help you save even more.
- Eliminate drafts. Unless you live in a brand-new home, it’s likely that as much as a third of the air in your home escapes via drafts around windows and doors. That’s like throwing money out the window—or door. A weekend of DIY projects, like sealing up drafts with caulking, weatherstripping and expanding foam, can help save you 20% or more on heating costs.
- Take advantage of solar power. No, not expensive solar panels. We’re talking about the free heat from the sun! Leaving curtains and blinds open during the day lets the sun passively warm your rooms. It can warm your rooms enough that you can lower your thermostat and use your boiler or furnace less. Closing curtains at night helps keep that heat in.
Are There Other Ways to Save?
Saving energy can help you use less fuel, so when temperatures really plummet—like they did in December—the bills may not sting as much. We also offer some services to help you keep your bills manageable.
For example, our EZ Pay Budget Plan spreads heating costs across 12 months, keeping heating bills predictable and eliminating the pain of bigger winter bills. Instead of several big bills over a few months, you’ll get predictable heating bills and pay one level amount every month, even if stretches of extra-cold whether cause you to burn moil oil. Plus, Budget Plan customers receive a 10-cent discount on every gallon.
We also offer a 10-cent per gallon discount when you pay your monthly bill within 10 days. For Budget Plan customers, that translates into a 20-cent per gallon discount!
Looking for a Local, Full-Service Company? Call Bolkema Today!
Over four generations, the team at Bolkema Fuels is always looking for ways to make sure it’s worth it to be our customer. From dependable fuel deliveries to great, neighborly service, we go above and beyond to make sure you’re comfortable and help you save money. Contact us for more information.