No matter where you go these days, everyone is talking about it. In coffee shops, grocery stores, on talk radio … nowhere seems safe from conversations about the rising cost of fuel. While discussion is primarily about prices at the pump, rising fuel costs are also hitting you at home, where conserving energy is now a financial necessity.
With that in mind, here are some helpful fuel conservation hints for those of you facing the unenviable task of paying a winter’s worth of heating bills.
• Turn down the thermostat, to as low as 55 degrees, whenever you know you’ll be out of the house for a while.
• Turn the thermostat down when you go to sleep at night. Sleeping in a house that is too hot is uncomfortable anyway.
• Purchase a programmable setback thermostat.
• Use a humidifier. Increasing the humidity in your home will make you feel warmer, while also providing a few health benefits as well, namely reducing your risk of catching a cold and keeping your skin from drying out or cracking.
• Keep your furnace clean.
For more information on how you can conserve fuel and save money this winter, go online to the Alliance to Save Energy Web site at www.ase.org.
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