Get started now if you want to save energy and save money this winter. Take a good look around your home first and look for possible "leaks," or areas where your heat may be escaping and cold air may creep in. Windows and doors are the most common culprits, but there are things you may overlook, as well. One example would be a permanently installed air conditioner. Make sure that the back is covered tightly and securely and that any cracks around the unit itself are sealed.
Once you've sealed all the leaks with weather stripping, plastic and other weather proofing materials you can pick up inexpensively at your local hardware or home store, it's time to consider some other small steps you can take to save energy before tackling the big issue of heating. If you haven't switched over to the new energy-efficient light bulbs, it's definitely time to do so. I own a small business and I have replaced as many of the lights as possible with those type of bulbs and have noticed much more of a reduction in my electric bill than I ever expected. The bulbs themselves are a little expensive, but they pay for themselves very quickly, last much longer than standard light bulbs and provide the same quality and level of lighting at a fraction of the cost. If you can't afford to replace all the bulbs in your house at once, take it step by step and replace one a week.
Keeping in mind what most of our mother's preached to us when we were kids is another great way to save energy. You probably heard a million times to turn a light off when you leave a room. It's a great habit to get into and will save money in the longrun. Take this a step further and look at other devices that can be silent energy drains, sucking money as well as juice even when you think they're not. Your computer, even if has a sleep or power-saver mode, is using power constantly. Turning it off when not in use will save you a lot on your electric bill. Other electrical items, such as chargers for phones and music players also constantly pull juice, even when the devices are not attached to them. By unplugging the chargers when not in use, you'll eliminate yet another source of needless energy waste.
The biggest problem in winter time is heat. It's most people's largest expense during the winter months and it's more of a necessity than a luxury, so it can't be done without. There are ways, however, to save on your heating costs. Closing off rooms you don't use and not wasting energy heating them will help, but that's not always practical. One of the easiest ways to impact your heat bill is to set your thermostat on the lowest setting at which you feel comfortable. After you've gotten used to this temperature, turn it down three more degrees. The human body isn't supposed to be able to feel the difference in a temperature difference of three degrees, but you'll be using less energy and over time that will result in a lower heating bill.
Another way to save money on heat is to NOT turn your thermastat up and down. You may think you're saving money by turning your heat off or way down when you're not home, like when you go to work, but think about what you do when you return. You turn it up full blast to warm it up quickly, using a great deal of energy in a short amount of time. Even if you only turn it back to your normal setting, the heating unit has to work harder to get back to that temperature and is still using more energy than it would if you had just left it alone. Of course, if you are using portable electric heaters to supplement your heating, you should always turn those off when you're not around because they can pose a fire hazard when left unattended.
Portable electric heaters are a great way to supplement your main heating unit and help it not have to work so hard to warm your home, especially if your main source of heat is gas which is sure to be exorbitantly high this season. If you're having a difficult time paying your heating bills, go to your gas or electric company and see if they offer a program which allows you to pay an average of your past year's bills each month. This can be a good way to avoid being surprised with huge bills in the winter making it a struggle to pay your other bills. If you're in the same boat as a lot of us this year, you're already struggling. See if your gas or electric company offers any subsidy programs or can point you toward a nonprofit group that can help you out with your heating bills. There are lots of great groups out there that help people out when they need it and there is no shame in asking. Normally it's as simple as providing proof of income to see if you qualify. It's definitely worth a shot.
A few final things you can do to save energy are to check out things that "run" all the time like your refrigerator and water heater. See if you can turn both of them down a few notches. Of course you will need to make sure you don't turn your refrigerator down too low and risk having your food stored an unsafe temperatures, but most of us could stand to turn them down a notch or two without making a huge difference in the temperature. To be on the safe side you might want to invest in a relatively inexpensive thermometer to make sure you haven't overdone it. The water heater can usually easily be turned down a little. You don't need to be able to boil an egg with the water that comes from your tap, it just needs to be hot. Turning it down a bit keeps it from using extra energy all the time and could save a great deal in the long run.
Remember that when it comes to saving money on energy, there's no one big quick fix. It's actually the little things that mean a lot. If you carefully look around at the ways your energy is being used you will see that, in addition to those mentioned here, you will notice many more. Make a mental not of each of them and see if there is a way that you can help to reduce your usage and dependence on the utility companies.