Halloween is behind us, and most of the Northern Hemisphere has “fallen back” to standard time. Like it or not, winter is just around the corner. In this month’s lead post for the Climate Change Collective, Molly from Transatlantic Notes provided a roundup of useful tips on how to be sustainable this winter. To complement Molly’s piece, today’s post features 10 ways to save on home heating costs this winter.

10 ways to save on home heating costs this winter

Here in Canada, our winters are long and dark. Although we’re sadly seeing the impact of climate change with less snow and milder temperatures, it’s still cold outside for close to half of the year. For those of us who aren’t into winter sports, the desire to hibernate in a cozy den is real. But that coziness comes at a cost to our wallets and the environment.

Natural Resources Canada reports home heating accounts for two-thirds of household energy use in Canada. Add in the environmental impact of holiday travel and celebrations, winter vacations, and the transportation of fresh produce from warmer climates to our supermarkets, and it’s easy to see how winter takes its toll on our efforts to be green.

Every action we take makes a difference but with home heating being the biggest culprit, let’s focus our attention on ways to save on home heating costs this winter, and in winters to come.

Smart home heating tips

The first thing to consider is the size of your home. A larger home means more space to heat and most large homes have a lot of empty rooms and unused space. If you live in a bigger home than you need, moving to a smaller home may be a good long-term goal.

In the shorter term, here are 10 easier ways to reduce your energy consumption and save on home heating costs.

• Lower your thermostat setting by a few degrees. If you put on an extra layer of clothing, or curl up under a cozy blanket, you won’t notice the difference.
• Install a programmable thermostat that will automatically adjust your household temperature when you’re out at work, or at night when you’re sleeping. As a bonus for those of us who struggle to get enough sleep, a cooler room will help! Sleep expert Mathew Walker of UC Berkeley recommends a nighttime temperature of 65 F or 18 C.
• Dress your windows with insulating curtains or shades and keep the window coverings closed at night.
• On sunny days, open the curtains and blinds on south-facing windows and let the sunlight heat your room.
• Schedule regular service for your furnace.
• Replace your furnace filter regularly. Most manufacturers recommend a new filter every three months to maintain air flow.
• If you have a ceiling fan, make sure the blades are rotating clockwise. Heat rises so this will draw up cooler air to mix with the warmer air closer to the ceiling.
• Move any furniture or other items that block heating vents.
• Although it might be too late for this winter, plan to upgrade your insulation.
• Finally, consider replacing older windows and doors. Energy-Star Certified windows could save up to 45% on your energy bills. (Source: Natural Resources Canada)

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

Visit Molly’s post for more helpful tips

Please visit Molly’s blog post for her full roundup of tips for a greener winter. In addition to energy savers, she shares terrific ideas on reducing food waste, mindful gift giving, environmentally conscious decorating, and more.

Winter often means increased heating needs, more electricity for lighting due to shorter days, and heightened fuel use as people travel for holidays or during adverse weather. Taking steps to help mitigate these seasonal impacts by tailoring our eco-friendly practices to each season makes them more functional and effective.

Molly, Transatlantic Notes

Highlighting Useful Ways to be Sustainable This Winter

About the Climate Change Collective

The Climate Change Collective started after I left a comment on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep the climate change message top of mind for everyone, so I put out a tweet to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!

The members of the collective take turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the post is published, the rest of the group keeps the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.

If you’re a like-minded blogger and would like to join our collective, please get in touch. More voices joining the conversation means more attention to the problems plaguing our planet!

More Climate Change Collective posts

The Climate Change Collective series has been going strong for over two years. See Two years of the Climate Change Collective series for a recap of the posts we published in the first two years.

Recent posts in the series

• Is Climate Change Overlooked in Schools? – Jamie Ad Stories
• Highlighting Useful Ways to be Sustainable This Winter – Transatlantic Notes

Thanks to Molly for being part of our Climate Change Collective and for sharing these helpful ways we can all be more sustainable this winter.

Do you have other ways we can save on home heating costs or reduce our impact this winter? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts.