Winter is starting early this year. One way to save money without suffering is to program your thermostat to turn down the heat when you don’t need it and to turn it on when you do. Just a few degrees can save you a significant amount of money over the course of a year.
A programmable thermostat will quickly pay for itself if you remember to use it. The new NEST thermostat remembers for you. Check it out by using this link.
It learns your habits and programs itself accordingly. My brother, Brad Daggett of B. Daggett Plumbing and Heating, Inc recently installed one in his house and loves it. I like the leaf logo, it appears on a low money saving setting and disappears when you turn it up too high. It’s a nice little reminder, especially for children.
There are other little tricks you can do to save money too. Turn off your hot water heater when you are not using it. This is especially helpful for those who are away all winter and need heat but not hot water. The savings can be significant. Next time you have your boiler cleaned, ask the technician what you can do to save money with your existing system.
Here is what we did. Our 1980’s oil burner would turn on and turn of all day, year round just for the hot water. The oil burner is an efficient source of hot water when it is also being used to provide heat. However, when you are not using it because the weather is too warm or because you are using a wood stove, it is inefficient and wastes money.
Brad set us up with a new efficient cold start oil burner a few years ago and also an auxiliary electric hot water heater. Our oil burner is available if we need it for heat but otherwise it stays off. We’ll turn it back on only when the weather is consistently cold. The new system qualified for the tax rebate, saving us even more money. Now they have a combination hot water heater / dehumidifier unit. The innovations seem to be coming faster and faster. There is always something better just around the corner.