Energy savings for winter

Since winter is finally going to show up, I figured I would put myself in check about saving on heating bills. I was reading an article and was curious what everyone on here does for a DIY or smart idea for saving a couple pennies over the winter.

article: http://www.iflscience.com/editors-bl...is-winter/all/




My personal thing is: keep thermostat lower, make the wife and kids put on slippers and have couch blankets. Kids like the fun slippers and wife likes having the blanket when on the couch watching TV. We also tend to simmer a pot of water. Brings the humidity up and warms the house a bit more when we are cooking dinner.

Unplug your dryer vent. Build a lint trap and enjoy the humidity and heat you're already paying for. Electric only.

Change your air filter

Clean the coils on your fridge. Not for winter but for energy efficiency

Use blinds and curtains. Open curtains for solar gain and shut them when it gets dark

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Originally Posted by Wulf202

Unplug your dryer vent. Build a lint trap and enjoy the humidity and heat you're already paying for. Electric only.

Change your air filter

Clean the coils on your fridge. Not for winter but for energy efficiency

Use blinds and curtains. Open curtains for solar gain and shut them when it gets dark

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Might have to try the dryer vent this year, too bad it's on the top floor so no full house gains.

Air filter is changed every other month with 3m filters

Good thinking of the Fridge.... grabbing the shop vac now.

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Originally Posted by Wulf202

Unplug your dryer vent. Build a lint trap and enjoy the humidity and heat you're already paying for. Electric only.

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Great idea, thanks.

All good ideas above. The one thing not everyone is fortunate to have the option of but I do, is wood burning stove. Love my wood burning stove.

Diy lint trap. Install a 4" start collar in the lid of a bucket. Swiss cheese the lid with a drill bit. Add some water to the bucket and install the lid.

My next house will have a wood burning stove

Have had one of these type for 27 years in my mobile home:http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

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Originally Posted by fly boy

Since winter is finally going to show up, I figured I would put myself in check about saving on heating bills. I was reading an article and was curious what everyone on here does for a DIY or smart idea for saving a couple pennies over the winter.

article: http://www.iflscience.com/editors-bl...is-winter/all/




My personal thing is: keep thermostat lower, make the wife and kids put on slippers and have couch blankets. Kids like the fun slippers and wife likes having the blanket when on the couch watching TV. We also tend to simmer a pot of water. Brings the humidity up and warms the house a bit more when we are cooking dinner.

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We have a whole house humidifier. Door draft blockers, you can buy or make one. We use beach towels with rubber bands.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...Z7CCWFYVZG1PKD


Add insulation in the attic, caulk around vents such as your sewer & heating ones around exit areas, longer drapes, Ceiling fans make a difference. Double check outside & in caulking around windows.
We had an energy audit then upgrades done. One area overlooked are bathroom exhaust fans. This unit , you have to leave the light on to remind you the fan's running.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Panasonic...QCL6/204361845


These go over the windows in the west facing rooms.
http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...ductId=1287694

If you have a foundation, plastic (for radon) then insulation batts. It's not cheap or one of those Hey let's do it this week type things. Everything took time but paid off. The biggest item was replacing the furnace with a 2 stage that you can keep the fan on, without air or heat running.
Of course if you , the kids or spouse insist on having the house @ 66 or higher you don't gain anything.

For cleaning the fridge coils . . . I ran across this and it works like a charm. Bought a cheap box fan and filter at Wally World. Sucks the crap right onto the filter without blowing all over.

For cleaning coils just get a wire dog brush for $2 from wal mart

Open the south facing drapes and blinds in the morning and close them in the evening. Vent dampers on bathroom fart fans and kitchen exhaust fan. Definitely an atmospheric damper on the fresh air inlet near the furnaces.

If you have a well insulated house built since about 2003, not a whole lot more you can do to save energy costs and have it actually pay off. You might save a litte, and or be more comfortable.

If you have an older house, there is a lot that will actually pay for itself. But the thing about moving your couch...insignificant. Interior venting of dryer vents...can work, can cause a mold/mildew issue depending on how your house is built and the actual configurations. If you have old windows, construction foam can be cut for inserts and put into windows in rooms you do not use and in rooms you do not occupy at night.

I installed a room darkening pleated shade in the bedroom at my old house. The primary goal was to be able to create a very dark room for day sleeping, but the added benefit was a significant insulating effect. The house was built in 1995 and had vinyl clad aluminum double pane windows. Not state of the art, but not completely crappy, either.

Like many of these ideas, the financial payback might take forever, but if you need the light control anyway, it'd be worth considering shades with an insulation factor.

FWIW...

something else we do is close heater vents and doors to rooms that we don't occupy in the winter.

I've actually found some very good insulating/blackout curtains at the local thrift store.

Use as much solar gain as you can. But if there is solar gain there will be loss when the sun goes down. I am a huge fan of radiant verse forced air heat. It is not feasible in some cases but much more efficient. Higher initial cost.


Turn your ceiling fans the other way during the winter to pull the heat from the ceiling into the usable space.


roasts and bakery items during the winter can add heat crack the oven when done and circulate the pre heated air.





I put a 150 lb container full of wet sand spray painted black in my south facing walk out glass door window thing last year and would measure ambient temps. During cold clear winter days I did not have to turn on my heat above 60 degrees at all it was enough to keep the living room comfortable


The Bwdroom need some augmentation but I am a cold sleeper so was not a big issue

Radiant heaters are available at the store for $50 ea and are much more efficient than forced air most of the time.

Reversable ceiling fans is only for ones with flat blades. Curved blades might have a reversing switch but it won't work right. Curved propeller type blades are much more effective and efficient but much more expensive

Opening the oven after cooking is a plecebo. It'll be radiant heat one way or the other

^^^ doing dishes with a cracked open cooling down oven is no doubt radiant and my warmed back side says it's not placebo



efficient? Probably not increased comfort for sure

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Originally Posted by Wulf202

Radiant heaters are available at the store for $50 ea and are much more efficient than forced air most of the time.

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Opening the oven after cooking is a plecebo. It'll be radiant heat one way or the other

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I would go broke trying to heat my house with radiant (electric) heat instead of cheap natural gas (yes I know the blower is elec). However, you can't possibly be serious. I know many people that got into a house with electric baseboard heat not understanding the electric costs in CO and can't wait to get out from under it.

He's saying that electric heat is a 1:1 efficiency ratio for the BTU output. I think. He can explain it better than I can.

Quote - I put a 150 lb container full of wet sand spray painted black in my south facing walk out glass door window thing last year and would measure ambient temps. During cold clear winter days I did not have to turn on my heat above 60 degrees at all it was enough to keep the living room comfortable

Why paint the sand?��

I've been blessed that I don't have to pinch pennies over my comfort. When it gets cold, I kick the heat on and set it at a comfortable temperature. When the warm weather sets in I repeat the process with the air conditioning.

I work hard for my money so being comfortable and well fed come high on my list of priorities.



(Oh, and if it was cold enough in the house that my wife had to wear warm clothes or cover with a blanket I wouldn't hear the end of the complaining. And if she ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.)

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Originally Posted by ray1970

I've been blessed that I don't have to pinch pennies over my comfort. When it gets cold, I kick the heat on and set it at a comfortable temperature. When the warm weather sets in I repeat the process with the air conditioning.

I work hard for my money so being comfortable and well fed come high on my list of priorities.



(Oh, and if it was cold enough in the house that my wife had to wear warm clothes or cover with a blanket I wouldn't hear the end of the complaining. And if she ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.)

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Amen to that! Lots of work only to save a few pennies. Someone has has to keep the electric/gas industry afloat!!

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Originally Posted by brutal

I would go broke trying to heat my house with radiant (electric) heat instead of cheap natural gas (yes I know the blower is elec). However, you can't possibly be serious. I know many people that got into a house with electric baseboard heat not understanding the electric costs in CO and can't wait to get out from under it.

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A proper electric heater runs within 10% the cost of a gas heater. On either side of that line depending on how much xcel is charging.

They drop the electric price nearly in half in the winter. But it would be better if it were pud and not a state wide monopoly

Usually places with baseboard heaters are rentals with terrible insulation.

The space heaters I was referring to ar the oil filled radiant heaters by honeywell

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Originally Posted by DFBrews

^^^ doing dishes with a cracked open cooling down oven is no doubt radiant and my warmed back side says it's not placebo



efficient? Probably not increased comfort for sure

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I was just referring to btu efficiency not safety pin related feelings. The btus are in your kitchen either way and are already paid for. Use them however you want.

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Originally Posted by legaleagle

Quote - I put a 150 lb container full of wet sand spray painted black in my south facing walk out glass door window thing last year and would measure ambient temps. During cold clear winter days I did not have to turn on my heat above 60 degrees at all it was enough to keep the living room comfortable

Why paint the sand?��

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Darker colors absorb the suns rays better.

I used a magnet strip to cover the gap between the jamb and my steel door. This is a 1" x 10' roll (the widest they sell at Hobby Lobby and Amazon) for $4.99 at Hobby Lobby. I used the 40% off one regular item, online coupon to bring this down to $2.99. This coupon is available at all times for everything sold at Hobby Lobby by the way. This magnet is adhesive backed and I just left the protective paper on. Not beautiful, but relatively discreet and very simple. The difference in the draft coming in the door is immediate.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4Y...Q=w535-h950-no

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Originally Posted by TRnCO

All good ideas above. The one thing not everyone is fortunate to have the option of but I do, is wood burning stove. Love my wood burning stove.

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When we still lived in Colorado, we heated our house with a nice wood burner. Always had a cast iron tea kettle on top of the stove to add some moist air to help eliminate static shocks.