How to Lower Your Utility Bills in Winter: A Few Easy Tips

Last updated on November 23rd, 2022 at 02:12 pm

Winter brings higher energy costs, but we have a few simple ideas for how to lower your utility bills in winter. You can start now and see real savings!

The holidays are just around the corner. Most of us are looking forward to the holiday season and visits with family and friends. We all enjoy Christmas and New Years Eve, but there’s one thing we don’t enjoy about this time of year– our energy bills going the roof as it gets colder.

It’s estimated that during the colder months, we use our heating and electricity 36% more when compared to summer months. As it gets colder, our bills go up as we scramble to stay warm and keep the house well-lit without the benefit of the longer sunny days helping us out.

Are you wondering how to lower your utility bills in winter? Luckily, there are a few easy changes you can make at home so that your bills don’t increase too drastically.

How to Lower Your Utility Bills in Winter

Insulate Rooms

The first change you should make to keep your heating bills low, is to insulate the rooms in your house. There are a few ways to insulate your home, but to keep it simple, we’ll talk about a few things you can do that don’t require making any big changes.

Keep Doors Closed: The first one is simple, you can insulate rooms by keeping doors closed. With doors closed, it is a lot easier to stop heat from dissipating. You’ll trap heat in rooms, meaning that your home stays warm for longer.

You can even use your fireplace or an energy-efficient space heater to warm up the room you’re in instead of paying to heat the whole house.

Install Thermal Blinds: When it comes to heat loss, windows are the biggest threat, since much of your home’s heat is lost to cold from windows. By installing thermal blackout blinds or curtains on your windows, you’ll stop cold from coming in and stop your heat from leaking outside. This means you’ll be able to keep rooms warm for longer.

But, as great as thermal curtains and blinds are, don’t forget to open them up when the sun is shining. You’ll want to let in all that “free heat” from the sun. 

More Efficient Lighting

During winter, because the days are shorter, you’ll need to use more electricity to keep your house well lit in the evening. This causes higher energy bills as you go from only needing to use lights for a few hours a day, to needing them on almost constantly.

Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to keep it light in the evening, but you can look into more energy efficient ways to keep your home well lit. Here are some ideas:

Power Saving Bulbs: By swapping your lights from old-style filament bulbs to more eco-friendly power-saving bulbs, you can cut down on your electric bill. Your new lights will need less power to light your home.

Indoor Solar Lights: If you’re looking to cut your electricity use, solar powered lights are helpful. You can find solar-powered lights for use indoors or outdoors.

Most days while the sun is out, there’s enough light to power up solar lights, which can then be used in the evening to supplement your home’s lighting without using more electricity.

These are just a few simple ways you can lower your utility bills in winter. These easy and actionable tips are easy for anyone to implement, but they can make a real difference.

Also read:
Free LED Bulbs and Energy Conservation Kits