Want to save a little on your bills during the season of big spending? If you have a fireplace, the energy bill is one place where you can cut back. Here are some tips you can use to know when a fire or the furnace will be suitable.
Furnaces are wonderfully convenient, but leaving it on 24/7 uses up a lot of energy and racks up your monthly bill. Honestly, it’s nice to turn the heater off sometimes and light up a good fire. Finding the best times to do this can decrease your bill and even increase your family time.
This is the season for reconnecting with family. When the heat is off in the house and a fire is going, people want to leave their cold rooms for the warmth of the fire. Two great times to do this are first thing in the morning or in the evening after dinner. This is a good time to read, sip hot cocoa, roast marshmallows, play games, and talk.
Before furnaces, families would often use evening time by the fire to talk about important topics. Is your child having a difficult time at school? Sitting by the fire is usually relaxing and may help them talk about it more comfortably. Franklin D. Roosevelt took advantage of this with a series of radio addresses known as the “fireside chats.” In these, he addressed topics important to the American people intimately and directly, and they brought comfort. That is the effect the fireside can have.
This season is also great for putting a little romance back into your life, not to say it was missing before. Grab a snack and cozy up with your special someone. Or take some time out for yourself to relax after a hard day.
Just remember never to leave the fire unattended. When it’s time to turn the heater back on to start the day’s chores or go to bed, put out the fire completely. Say it’s the time of day that only one or two people are home, but you’re not where the fireplace is. You can turn on the furnace, or you can use an extra-savings option. Wear warmer clothes and open the blinds on the east-facing windows instead of turning up the heat. That way you won’t be wasting energy on a bunch of empty rooms.
What better way is there to shrink your energy bill than by bringing your family together?
