Traditionally, winter is thought of as a magical time of year with snowball fights, hot cocoa, and fashionable coats. But if you own a home, it can feel less magical and more maddening. All the whimsy of the season goes away the second you take a look at your dreaded electricity bill.

So, how do you keep winter from hurting your wallet? To help you out, Wire Craft came up with a bunch of tips to help to protect you from the winterizing brutality of coldness and the electrical bill that comes with it.

Adjust To Ideal Temperatures for Better Electricity Bill results

The Department of Energy suggests to set your thermostat to 68°F in the winter while you’re awake, and setting it lower while you’re asleep or away from home. This will have vast impact on your electricity bill. An average ideal temperature while sleeping at night is around 60-67 degrees. This could vary from person to person, so if you normally sleep or hang out in the evening with the heater on, you might consider cuddling up with your significant other or throwing on a few extra blankets while you hang on the couch and catch your favorite TV show. Keep some cozy sweaters and socks out, too. When you come in from outside, you can throw on an extra layer rather than bumping up your thermostat.

The more the merrier when it comes to bed covers in the winter. For the six to nine hours a night you practically lay in one place to relax and recharge, why would you want the heater running up your bill? Adding a few more covers to your bed at night can keep you warm and toasty without having to sweat over your electricity bill in the winter months.

Keep Your Heater Outlets Clear

This seems simple enough but a lot of people have furniture near or even blocking the outlet of a heater. This can be very dangerous because your risk of fire increases exponentially. Secondly, a blocked heater isn’t heating up that room like it could. You want to keep your heaters clear – about a foot in diameter – for optimal output. It would be a shame to have a heater pumping hot air into the back of your couch, and not into the room you’re occupying.

Use Portable Heaters For Smaller Rooms

If you hang out in one room more than the rest of the house, it’s more efficient to just heat up that one room. Buying a portable heater can be an upfront cost, but if you are working in your office or hanging out in the living room most of the night, you can really cut the bill down by bringing your portable heater buddy with you. Some heaters nowadays even have remotes, so it’s as easy as channel surfing… but for coziness.

Upgrade Your Thermostat for Better Electricity Bill

Using a programmable thermostat can save you tons of money in the long-run. Upgrading to a more advanced thermostat can set schedules and times when to turn on the heat. They can even be controlled by your phone or triggered by an event with IFTTT. Just to put a nail in the coffin on how cool that technology is, here are some recipes for honeywell. There’s even one that will put the thermostat on a permanent hold once the last family member leaves the home.

Open & Close Your Drapes

When the sun comes out tomorrow – which we all know doesn’t happen a lot in Seattle – but when its does, it’s good way to save on heating a room. Opening up your drapes and blinds lets in the sun to warm up the rooms naturally. Once the sun goes down, closing the drapes will create a thin insulation to keep the cold out.

Find Drafts in Windows & Doors

Small cracks around windows and doors might not seem like a big concern, but these little guys add up and they reflect on your yearly heating bill. Use caulking around skinny gaps or squirt expanding polyurethane foam in medium-size gaps to plug up the holes. You can replace weather-strippping on doors and add door sweeps to all exterior doors to reduce heat leaving your house. Whereas with windows, you can secure them tight if they have a locking mechanism and add window film to keeping the cold out and the heat in.

Electrical Boxes Drafts

A lot of people don’t think about their electrical outlet boxes passing brisk air. But they are openings just like anything else in the home and in between the drywall is frigid air waiting to escape. You can quickly solve this problem by unscrewing the cover plates and adding a gasket cover between the plate.

Switch Your Ceiling Fan On

Weird, right? But we all know heat rises and one sure way to get it back down and circulated through the room is to use a ceiling fan. Ceiling fans come equipped with a toggle switch that puts them in reverse. Flipping this switch will have the ceiling fan pushing air down back into the room and not letting the hot air above you go to waste. Don’t forget to switch the ceiling fan back before summer hits in Seattle. Wouldn’t want anyone dying for heat.

Minimize the Use of Bathroom Fans & Kitchen Fans

These fans are a straight shoot to the outside world. This is because if we are cooking in the kitchen or steam up the bathroom, we want to dissipate that air as quick as possible. No sense in having the rest of the house deal with it. But in the winter, turning these types of fans on for extensive periods of time can lead a loss of significant heat and will raise your electric bill a few percent.

Turn Down Your Water Heater Temperature

Typical water heaters run around 120-140 degrees. But in the winter months in Seattle, water heaters have to pull double time to keep their temperature consistent all day long. Dropping your temperature 10 degrees on your water heater can possibly save you 3-5 percent on energy costs. This is an easy way to save money and you might not even notice the difference in your bathing or washing degrees routine.

Give Your Water Heater A Blanket

Just like us wanting to be bundled up while walking around in Seattle, giving your water heater an insulated jacket can potentially save 7-16% annually according to Energy.gov. Don’t stop there, though. If you have more insulation, wrap all of your exposed hot water pipes. This will make sure no heat is lost on it’s way to your faucets.

If you are thinking about upgrading your thermostat or making major changes to your heating system, it’s always recommended to have a certified electrician wire it properly. Improve your electricity bill rates in no time.

We can help you out today at Wire Craft, give us a call at 206.855.5061.