The programmable thermostat would save money, it's function is self
explanatory.

Yes closing doors will save money, perhaps you'd recommend that pepper take
up residence in a crawl space under the stairs with a portable heater,she/he
could save a bundle this winter but at a cost of damaging the home with mold
and mildew not to mention the health risks if children are living there.
I agree on the points that keeping a vigil on the thermostat while home,
away or in bed is important. I would like to also point out that slippers,
sweathers or other warm garments can also save money on heating costs. IMO
Setting the room temperature to low and closing the door for long periods,
will cause condensation to form if the door is opened and then closed again
if the differential is greater than roughly 25 degrees on the other side.
Removing the window casings and inject expandable foam will also help along
with increasing the R value in the attic. There are many ways to cut down
during the winter months a few others are installing a plastic restricter in
the faucet to cut down on hot water consumption, cutting back on showers for
baths, washing a full load of clothes instead of a half load, same with dish
washer but switch to econo clean and pre rinse dishes, keep the heat turned
up comfortably in the basement turned down lower upstairs, if the floor is
cold upstairs- so will you be(heat rises). Change light bulbs to lower
wattage and shut them off when not in use. Cut back on the usage of large
appliances that suck up electricity.
Plan out meals and cook foods that do not require long cooking times.
A toaster oven is cheaper to run than a stove. Don't use plug in air
fresheners and turn off the tv if you are not in the room.
I hope some of this advice may help
dp


wrote in message
oups.com...
"Get yourself a decent programmable thermostat.
Setting the thermostat at a constant temperature will assure even heat
throughout the house.
If you turn the heat off in the day time during the winter, the money
you
saved will be gone again as the heaters will have to heat everything in
the
house again to bring it up to liveable temperature. this also promotes
mold
and mildew plus condensation. "

Hmmm, last time I checked, the function of a programmable thermostat
was to turn the temp down so that you could save heat at times when you
either aren;t there (day while at work) or don't need it (when asleep)
So, which are you advocating, constant temp or using a programable
thermostat? Sounds like you are conflicted to me.

"Closing doors and turning down the heat does very little to save
money. If
the room is cold the heater has to work just as hard to keep the set
temperature. "

Totally false. If you can close off heat to unused areas or turn down
the heat, there is no question you will save significant amounts of
energy.

Setting the temp down to say 63 at night and even lower while away, can
save a significant amount of heat. Yes, the system has to run more for
awhile to put back the energy depleted as the temp goes to the lower
setting. But that amount is about the same as the amount of energy
saved as the house temp lowered initially and the system didn;t run at
all.. The savings are basicly in the fact that at the lower temps,
less heat is lost from the house. The amount of heat loss is roughly
proportional to the difference in temp between inside and out. So as
soon as the temp starts to drop, you are saving energy.

The only exception where you might not save would be systems like a
heat pump with electric as auxilliary. If the setback temp is too low
and the recovery period too short, then the aux heat from the typically
more expensive electric might kick in.



Do not waste hot water if you have an electric water heater and set it
to
130 degrees, wrap the heater with fiberglass pink insulation and
stretch
wrap, make sure all drafts, cracks around doors and windows are fixed.
A $5
dollar tube of caulking can save big bucks in a short time. If the
windows
are not sealed units, buy the type of 6ml plastic with two face tape
and use
a hair dryer to tighten the plastic.
Pray for a mild winter
goodluck
dp


"pepper" wrote in message