If you have a floor or desktop fan, use the oscillate feature. They circulate the air much better than a fan that’s blowing or moving air in one direction.

Ventilation fans are different than normal ceiling fans.
Ventilation fans’ job is to remove offending air from the house to the outdoors. It is non discriminatory. In other words, it doesn’t care if the air on the inside is warmer than outside.
Usually, you’ll find ventilation fans in kitchens on hoods, in bathrooms, utility rooms, or in attics.
If you have a good reason to use these fans, then by all means use them. They are there for a reason. But don’t forget to turn them off when they’ve …

I was a little surprised by this one, and you might be too.
Try this: Go to a light switch on a wall opposite the outdoors. A hallway would be a good example. Take your hand, and feel if there is cold air blowing through.
Feel anything?
Now try removing the faceplate.
I couldn’t believe the amount of cold air blowing through even on a calm (but cold) day! On a windy days its very noticeable.
Fortunately the fix is simple and relatively inexpensive. Once again, at your local …

Cost: $8 and up
Estimated Effort: 10 minutes
Approximate Savings: 10% or more
If your furnace is located in an unheated area like an unfinished basement, you might already have guessed that a lot of heat can potentially be lost in the ducts themselves. Between the furnace itself and the vents, even with no holes in the ducts, some estimate that as much as 15 – 30% of the heat from your furnace can be lost when it travels through an unheated area like a basement.
That’s a lot of heat loss!
If …

Cost: $60 – $200
Estimated Effort: 30 minutes
Approximate Savings: 10% – 15% or more
Installing a “smart” thermostat is not hard at all, and typically takes less than 30 minutes to accomplish, even for novice users.
When buying your new thermostat, just remember – you get what you pay for. If you want more features, like the ability to program based on day, you will pay more. Likewise if you want an Energy Star model. My advice to get one that’s within your budget with features you need right now, but go …

Perhaps you have a few window air conditioner units for a few rooms of your house, rather than having central air.
That’s fine. In fact, it is much cheaper to operate if you stay in a couple of rooms most of the time.
Make sure they are working properly and efficiently. Most of them today are built to run pretty quietly. So if your unit starts …

Wait until night or evening (or on a cool day) to do chores or activities that generate heat.
Any additional heat you generate will just make the A/C work harder and longer.
Such activities include:

Baking or using the oven
Washing Dishes / Running Dishwasher
Laundry

The filter takes out a lot of dander, hair, pollen, etc from the air as it is fed into the furnace.
If the filter is dirty, less air is fed into the heating system, which means…yep, you guessed it. The furnace has to work harder by staying on longer to heat the available air. And the longer it runs, the more it costs.
Some will advise you to change it every 60 or 90 days. I’d still recommend every 30 days, especially if you have pets or an older house …

Basically, make sure the thermostat location isn’t too hot, or too drafty. The thermostat measures the temperature and locating it in either location can throw off the reading.
The effects can be disastrous for your utility bill.
The area might be warm, so the thermostat will be tricked into thinking the heat has done its job and turn it off. Actually, just the area where the thermostat is located is warm because it is directly over or very close to a heating vent.
The opposite is true as well. If …

The easy answer to a drafty or old window that no longer insulates well is to “cover it in plastic.” And that still is probably the best possible answer for most situations.
Most situations?
Yup. I said most situations for a reason. Here’s why. You need to know how the window is losing your home’s energy to effectively make the right repair choice.
For example, putting plastic over a window when its the outer frame that loses energy will do next to nothing except obscure your view of the outdoors.
Okay, so how can …