by Bonnie Christiano

Created on: July 21, 2008

With rising energy costs, heating your home is going to cost more. Budgeting for heating costs is extremely important. There are some things that you can do to budget for the cost and to reduce the cost altogether.

if your home heating provider offers it, opt for budget billing. The fuel company will take the average cost over a twelve-month period of time and bill you that amount every month. Normally you would expect your heating cost to be minimal in the warm weather months and much higher in the cold weather months. Budget billing allows you to spread that high cost over the course of the whole year. The budget is revisited yearly and adjusted as necessary. Why not let the fuel company do the budgeting for you?

If budget billing is not available in your area, you can follow a similar process on your own. Take a year's worth of heating bills, add them up and divide by twelve. Plan to pay that amount each month. Pay the amount billed to the gas company and stash the extra in your savings account. When the winter bills come, you can take from the extra that you have been storing. Not only will you have enough to pay the high bills, but you will have earned some interest by keeping that money in your savings, rather than in the hands of the gas company.

Reducing your overall consumption of fuel in the winter can also help with your budget. And this can be environmentally friendly as well. Make your home energy efficient. If your windows are old, replace them. This can be costly but some gas companies and/or home insurance companies will give you an incentive to do so. And the savings should outweigh the costs within a couple of years. Insulate, insulate, insulate. Have a trained professional inspect your home to determine if you can upgrade or replace existing insulation to avoid escaping heat. If you see icicles forming outside your home, you can be sure that heat is escaping and should get it checked immediately. Invest in a programmable thermostat. This is relatively inexpensive and can provide great savings. You can set the thermostat to lower the temperature while you are out of the house and while you are sleeping. Set it so that the temperature is increased a half-hour before you get home or wake up.

Adjusting the temperature is one of the easiest ways to reduce the amount of energy used. Setting the thermostat 1-2 degrees lower can have a real effect on your bill. While you are at it, reduce the temperature of your hot water tank. You will probably never

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