How To Keep Heating Costs From Soaring (NAPSA)—Your home may be your castle but heating it need not cost a fortune. “Rising costs are a real concern as homeheating-oil prices are 60 percent higher than last year, natural gas is 11 percent higher and propane is 30 percent higher,” explains Eric Nilsson, director of marketing with CertainTeed’s Insulation Group. “Couple this with the average U.S. home size now over 700 square feet larger than 20 years ago and you've got $2,000 to $3,000 larger energy bills for many homeowners.” According to the CertainTeed HomeInstitute, some simple ways to lower your home energy budget inelude: * “Insulate” yourself from high bills by asking an insulation contractor to evaluate your home’s insulation efficiency. Appropriate insulation can help reduce heating usage up to 30 percent. * Check your home’s walls, floors, roof, windows, and doors. Seal leaks between moving parts with weather stripping. Fill leaks between nonmoving parts with caulking. * Replace energy-inefficient windows. Double pane and low emissivity coated windows can reduce energy usage by 34 percent compared to uncoated single-pane windows. * Install an automatic setback or programmable thermostat to adjust home temperatures around your schedule and save up to 10 percent on annual heatingbills. * To improve the efficiency of your furnace, changefilters frequently. Clean air registers, baseboard heaters and radiators as needed and change forced-air heating system air filters monthly. in 4 rr The right insulation can help reduce heating use up to 30 percent. * Let the sun help heat your home. Keep blinds or drapes of sun-exposed windows open during the day and closed at night to conserve heat. * When replacing heating and cooling systems—as well as appliances, lighting, windows, insulation and homeelectronics—select Energy Star products for energy efficiency. * Put timers on your lights. Motion detectors on exterior floodlights improve your homesecurity at a lower operatingcost. * Replace your four most used 100-watt incandescent bulbs with four comparable 23-watt compact fluorescent bulbs to save $108 over three years. * Turn off everything when not in use: lights, TVs, computers. * Plant trees and shrubs in your yard to help reduce your energy costs. For more energy-efficient tips, call the CertainTeed Home Institute at 1-800-782-8777 for the free pamphlet “Tips to Head Off High Heating Bills” or visit www.certainteed.com.
