Keep the Heat You Paid For: Get Your House Ready Before Heating Season

I know. It’s still summer.

The garden is producing, there are cucumbers taking over my refrigerator, and nobody particularly wants to think about heating oil.

But I am.

Because heating season is coming whether I think about it or not, and I’d much rather spend a little money and time now than watch the heat I’ve already paid for disappear through cracks, windows and an uninsulated basement.

Once you’ve paid to produce heat, keep it!

That’s really the whole idea.

You don’t necessarily need a huge weatherization project, either. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive things we can do before cold weather arrives.

Start With Your Doors

Go stand by your exterior doors and actually look at them.

Is the weatherstripping cracked, flattened or missing? Can you see daylight anywhere around the door?

Replace the weatherstripping where it needs it.

Then look underneath.

A worn or missing door sweep can leave a surprisingly large opening along the bottom of a door. They’re relatively inexpensive, and replacing one is usually a pretty manageable DIY project.

Don’t automatically replace everything because somebody on the internet—including me—said you should.

Check it first.

If it’s still doing its job, congratulations. You’ve just saved yourself the price of new weatherstripping.

Deal With the Really Drafty Windows

Some windows are simply cold.

Others practically invite January inside for coffee.

If you have older or particularly drafty windows that aren’t being replaced anytime soon, those clear plastic window-insulation kits can make a noticeable difference in comfort.

They’re not glamorous.

Neither is paying to heat the outdoors.

Put them on the problem windows and move on with your life.

Insulate the Outlets and Switches on Exterior Walls

Here’s one people don’t always think about.

Electrical outlets and switches on exterior walls can allow cold air to sneak through.

Those inexpensive foam outlet and switch-plate gaskets go behind the covers and help block that air movement.

This isn’t going to single-handedly slash your heating bill in half.

But frugality is very often a collection of small things that add up.

Insulate Those Basement Pipes

This one is on my own list.

We have forced-hot-water heat, and there are exposed heating pipes running through our basement.

Think about that for a minute.

I’ve bought the heating oil. I’ve paid the boiler to turn that fuel into heat. Now I want that heat delivered upstairs where we’re living—not escaping from bare pipes into an unfinished basement along the way.

Once you’ve paid to make the heat, keep the heat.

Foam pipe insulation is relatively inexpensive and can be cut to fit around accessible piping.

Just make sure you’re buying insulation appropriate for the type and temperature of pipe you’re covering, and don’t cover valves, controls or other components that need to remain accessible.

Cold-water pipes can benefit from insulation too, although for a different reason. Ours have a tendency to sweat in humid weather, and insulating them can help prevent that condensation.

Hunt Down the Other Air Leaks

Doors and windows aren’t the only places cold air gets in.

Take a slow walk around the house and pay attention to places where pipes, wires and vents pass through walls. Look around basement penetrations and other obvious gaps.

You don’t need to seal your house into a mayonnaise jar. Homes and combustion appliances need proper ventilation.

But there’s no reason to maintain a collection of unnecessary holes to the outdoors either.

Use the appropriate caulk, foam or other sealing product for the particular location, and if you’re working anywhere near a furnace, boiler, chimney or other combustion equipment, make sure you’re not interfering with required ventilation or clearances.

Use a Programmable Thermostat

If nobody is home for eight hours, you probably don’t need to maintain exactly the same temperature you want while everyone is sitting in the living room.

The same goes for overnight.

A programmable thermostat lets the house adjust automatically instead of relying on somebody to remember.

Set it according to the way your household actually lives.

That’s important.

The fanciest thermostat in the world isn’t frugal if you buy it, never program it properly and spend the next three years overriding it.

Give the Heating System Some Attention Before You Need It

Don’t wait for the first truly cold night to discover the heating system isn’t happy.

If your system needs annual service, schedule it.

Check or replace filters where your particular system uses them. Make sure radiators, baseboards or registers aren’t buried behind furniture, curtains or piles of stuff.

And make sure your carbon-monoxide detectors are working.

Heating-season preparation isn’t only about saving money. Some of it is simply good household maintenance.

Use Curtains Strategically

On a sunny winter day, open curtains where the sun can help warm the house.

At night, close them.

Heavier curtains can make cold windows more comfortable, particularly in an older house.

Just be sensible about keeping fabric safely away from heaters and other heat sources.

Free sunshine coming through the window?

I’ll take it.

Check Your Ceiling Fans

If your ceiling fan has a winter/reverse setting, use it according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Warm air rises. A properly operated ceiling fan can help redistribute that warm air instead of leaving the toastiest part of the room hovering uselessly near the ceiling.

Again:

We already paid for that heat. Let’s use it.

Heat the Person Sometimes, Not the Whole House

I am a big fan of this one.

If one person is chilly while everyone else is perfectly comfortable, does the entire house need to be five degrees warmer?

Maybe not.

Sometimes a sweater, slippers, another blanket or an electric blanket/heated throw makes much more sense.

Obviously, follow the manufacturer’s safety instructions for anything electric, don’t use damaged heating products, and use extra care where someone’s age or health could affect their ability to sense heat or operate the product safely.

But there’s no prize for sitting in January wearing a T-shirt while the boiler works overtime.

Put on the sweater.

Start Now, Not When the First Heating Bill Arrives

That’s really my point.

You don’t have to do all of this in one weekend.

Walk around the house.

Make a list.

Maybe this week you replace the worn door sweep. Next week you pick up outlet insulation. You order the window kits before everyone else remembers they need them. You measure the basement pipes before buying insulation.

Do the inexpensive, manageable things first.

And use what you already own.

You don’t save money by reading an article about lowering your heating costs and immediately buying $200 worth of weatherization products you don’t actually need.

The goal isn’t buying stuff.

The goal is keeping more of what you’ve already paid for.

Heating oil, natural gas, propane and electricity cost enough.

I’m certainly not interested in buying heat and then sending it outside.

Take a look around your house now, while it’s still warm enough that you aren’t doing it with frozen fingers.

Future January You may be very glad you did.