Ms. Frugal

Brrr!  It’s been pretty cold for the last few days, and I know we’ve been running our heater pretty heavily.  Heating costs are becoming a problem for some families as the cost of home heating oil continues to rise.  Even without that, no one wants a huge utility bill when they’re only trying to stay warm.  Here are a few tips for reducing your heating costs at home.  First find the drafty spots in your home.  By holding a candle to the edge of a window or door, you will see that if it flickers or burns out, there’s probably a draft coming from that area.  You can buy window covering kits for those drafty windows.  Also, try lowering your thermostat at night.  Reducing it just 8 degrees each night can save around 10% of your utility costs.  Finally, don’t use that bathroom fan while you’re running the heat - it just takes the heat right out of the house.  If your mirror is foggy, just use a hairdryer on the mirror for a minute to get rid of the steam.