6 Budget-Friendly Ways to Prepare Your Home for Cold Weather

Summer and winter are the two seasons when the majority of people spend the most on their power bills. With the weather cooling down, it’s time to prepare your home to keep warm and conserve energy. Along with the energy-saving habits you should practice throughout the year, there are plenty of things you can do around the house to help you save on your power bill while keeping your home comfortable. Read on to learn six budget-friendly ways to prepare your home for cold weather:

1. Ensure Insulation is in Good Shape

No other home preparation or energy-saving habit you do during the colder months will make much of a difference if your home isn’t properly insulated. Insulation is essential to keeping your home at a comfortable temperature while reducing how hard your HVAC system has to work to warm your home. Ensure your insulation is in good condition or add more around your home. Adding insulation to your attic or wrapping your pipes with foam sleeves are easy DIY ways to improve your home’s insulation.

2. Seal Windows and Doors

This tip works hand in hand with the previous one. Ensuring your home’s insulation is in good shape is just as important as sealing windows and doors. Air leaks from gaps and cracks allow the cold air to slip into your home, forcing your heater to work harder to warm your home. Take some time to add caulk and weatherstripping around doors and windows to seal openings where cold air can enter. For a little extra help keeping the cold out, hang thick curtains over the windows and keep them closed.

3. Use Your Fireplace

Your fireplace can be a helpful tool for warming your home. The first and most obvious way is by lighting a fire. During the colder months, what’s a cozier way to stay warm than by having the fire burning? Beyond that, practicing mindful habits around your fireplace can also have an impact. For example, when you’re not burning a fire, make sure to close the flue. This prevents cold air from outside from creeping into your home.

4. Reverse Your Ceiling Fan Blades

While ceiling fans don’t change the temperature of a room, they do circulate air. Usually, we only think of ceiling fans as being useful during the hotter months to help us keep cool. But during the colder months, they can be just as helpful. Make sure the blades are switched to rotate clockwise and keep the fan set at the lowest setting. This creates an updraft that forces the warm air near the ceiling downward, which can help you keep warm. Just remember to turn the fan off when you leave the room to save energy—ceiling fans warm and cool people, not rooms!

5. Maintain Your HVAC System

Many things make your HVAC system work harder to warm your home, but the number one contributor is how well it’s maintained. Change filters regularly to ensure no debris is blocking airflow, since this can cause energy usage to skyrocket as your HVAC works overtime to keep heat flowing throughout your home. The general recommendation is every 1-3 months, but check your manufacturer’s guidelines for specific instructions on your unit. Regularly dust vents and ducts to make sure there’s no buildup of dust, as this can also block airflow.

6. Be Mindful of Thermostat Settings

In the Texas winter, it can be tempting to crank the heater up to get some relief from the cold. But this can quickly drive up your electric bill. Instead of turning on the heater at the first sign of cold weather, be mindful of your thermostat settings. As a general rule, the closer the thermostat is to the temperature outside, the less energy you use. Instead of setting it to a balmy 75 degrees, keep it somewhere in the 60s, and wear multiple layers of clothing or snuggle up with a blanket to keep warm. 

With these tips, you can keep your home warm all season long while keeping your energy costs under control. For more control over your budget, get started with prepaid power from Pronto Power! Learn about how it works here or get started by calling us at (844) 621-2852.