Bargains!

I'm blogging about general bargains (not related to being green) on my new blog:

http://azbargains.blogspot.com

I will soon be posting about how to get an iPhone on the cheap. Stay tuned!

Tips on heating the house this winter (part 3)

The 3rd and final part for heating the house on the cheap this winter includes the debate of electric vs gas heaters. I am not sure what the most common type of heater is installed in most american homes so I will just focus on what each type means.

Natural gas prices have gone up considerably in the recent years. And gas based home heating systems are fairly common (even I have one). This is a true story:

When I first moved in to my home (first time home buyer). I used the gas heater 24x7 at around 74F. My house heating bill was $300/month!. This was a real shocker. I talked to a bunch of home owners and most didn't know any way out. I took the matter in my own and tried searching the internet for a possible solution. Thin thing I found was that electricity prices have remained steady for a long time and heating your house using electricity could be considerably cheaper. However as a new home owner who had paid a huge down payment, I didn't want to overhaul my H-VAC system and install a new electric system.

So I decided to use a small oil-based convection heater in conjunction with my house's gas heater. The electric oil based heaters are virtually noise-less because they don't have fan, and they heat the air surrounding them by using the convection (i.e. cold air remains at the bottom of the floor and hot air rises).

I found a huge reduction in my heating bill. My gas bill was only $50! (and my electricity bill only went up by $30 for that month). Total savings of more than $220!

Here are some good quality oil based electric heaters:

1. DeLonghi TRH0715 Oil Filled Radiator Heater ($49.99)
   
2. DeLonghi EW7707CM Oil-filled Radiator with ComforTemp Technology ($59.08)
3. Lakewood 5600/7 Constant Temperature 3-Setting ($40) - currently out of stock but you can pre-order now.

(all are available with free super saver shipping)

Tips on heating the house this winter (part 2)

The second most common way to avoid large heating bills this winter is to use a programmable thermostat. A thermostat that can be programmed for different levels of temperature depending on the time of day will save you hundreds of dollars for the winter season. These usually go from $20 all the way to high end touch-screen home control systems for thousands of dollars.

Here's some picks from amazon:

1. Honeywell basic programmable thermostat - $21
2. Honeywell YRTH6300B1007 5-2 Day ProgrammableThermostat - $47

Another way of looking at this problem is to block your heated air flow to areas of your house that don't need it. This highly depends on how big your house is, and how many members you have. You could have a heated attic or a basement, shut those vents down if you don't use these areas often. Another level is to control the airflow depending on the time of day, and to help you with this there are programmable air vents available! Take a look at the following picks from amazon:

1. Vent-Miser 91663 Programmable Enery Saving Vent 12-by-2-Inches, White - $13
2. Vent-Miser 91668 Programmable Enery Saving Vent, 12-by-6-Inches - $27

Tips on heating the house this winter (part 1)

This winter many people in america will see higher utility bills for heating their house. Things don't look for people with big houses who want to keep their entire house at a comfortable temperature. Here are some tips you can use to ease up on your bill:

• Insulation - this more than anything affects your heating bill.
• Temperature/Thermostat
  
• Electric vs Gas heaters

More on Insulation:

The average home has so many insulation problems that it can be equivalent to leaving a window open all the time! The biggest bang for your buck is to make sure that your house is insulated properly. There is a lot of help available in this area. In some states the utility company will provide a free exam of how insulated your home is. There are also some expensive methods of figuring out what places you are loosing your precious heat.

By far the best things to do are simple:

1. Make sure that there is weather stripping around your outside facing doors and windows. (also make sure there is enough weather stripping). This can be found at your local home improvement store. Some weather stripping products on amazon: M-D stripping & M-D 2189 stripping.
   
2. If you can see light coming in from inside of a door, thats the place to put extra stripping