keeping your duct work clean

Every winter it's the same thing—you don't want to receive huge heating bills, but you also don't want to spend all winter freezing. Even if you have budget billing, the cost doesn't go away; it just gets spread out over a longer time. Here are 7 things you can try to help you stay warm without worrying about winter heating bills:

1. Cooking and Baking

Put a frozen pizza in the oven and boil water for some pasta to go along with it. Using the oven and stove will further warm up your home with no added cost since you already have to cook. If you don't usually cook, even better— more home cooking will also help your food budget.

2. Humidifying the Air

Using the stove to boil water also helps increase the amount of humidity in the air. Humid air inside in the winter will make you feel warmer and also helps prevent dry skin. The steam from a hot shower is also a good source of humidity, but an actual humidifier works best. Humidifiers can be purchased at most of the big retail or home improvement stores.

3. Changing Home Decor

You will never be mentally warm if your space is decorated in cool colors, so gather up your blue, silver, pink, or yellow accessories, such as throw pillows, and put them in a closet until spring. Replace them with accessories in colors that remind you of a sweltering August day.

4. Adding Rugs

While you are out looking for home decor items that make you feel warm, pick up some thick throw rugs to put down on the uncarpeted floors in your home, especially for the kitchen and bathroom. You may be surprised how cold those tile floors can be even in the middle of a heated home.

5. Heating One Room

If you or your family spend large chunks of time in a single room, try using a space heater. You can lower the thermostat on the central heating system while staying perfectly comfortable in the room you are using. Space heaters come in many varieties, so you can purchase one that is best suited for the size of the room you want to heat and where you can place the heater.

6. Changing Your Socks

Feet are very sensitive to heat and cold, which is why the first item of clothing most people remove when they are hot is their socks. Wear socks to bed, and wear heavier socks or socks plus slippers during the day. Your comfort level should improve quickly after this change.

7. Preheating Your Bed

This concept goes back hundreds of years, but it is still smart. You can put a hot water bottle at the foot of your bed or use a bag of dried beans hot from the microwave. Of course, an electric blanket or heated mattress pad will also work—for fast heating, you can turn them on high, then lower the temperature or turn them off when you get into bed.

For more energy saving tips, contact a local HVAC contractor like Triad Heating & Cooling Inc today.