by Gary Maclean

Created on: October 22, 2009   Last Updated: July 20, 2010

The cold weather is upon us. It's time to prepare for an increase in our energy bills and an increase in our budgeting anxiety. Is there anything we can do to help lessen the burden?

Short of remodeling or new construction is there anything, economical, you can do to help ease the dependency on heating fuel this winter season? Yes there is; without spending a great deal of money you should be able to reduce your energy obligation considerably. Following are a few ideas to consider.

10) CLEAN REGISTERS: It may not seem like it and you may not even realize it, but a dirty register, right at the point it delivers heat to a room, can hamper the delivery of good, clean, warm air. Remove the register grill, vacuum inside the vent, everywhere you can reach, especially the grates, and replace the grill. This may have to be done several times a year.

9) WRAP FURNACE: Not generally considered is the heat loss around the body of a furnace. Newer furnaces are nearly exempt but those just a few years old may have a problem. To test, simply touch the sidewall of your furnace. If it is warm, you are losing heat before it is delivered to the rooms needing it. Wrap your furnace in wall insulation or you can purchase furnace wrap, which is the same thing, it just looks better.

8) SHUT DOWN UNUSED ROOMS: Depending upon your type of heat delivery you will have different methods to do this. For the typical forced air system, simply close the register in rooms that will not be used through the cold months, as tight as possible. Even better, you can place a piece of insulation inside the vent, then close the register. This will prevent the heat from going to a place you really don't need it.

7) CHANGE FURNACE FILTER: Always a good tip is to change the furnace filter at the beginning of the cold season, perhaps once in the middle and one more time toward the end. You may get away with just cleaning the filter. Check it close for embedded dirt and debris. A clean filter allows for smoother, unobstructed flow of warm air to the points of delivery.

6) FULLY OPEN REGISTERS: In the rooms you do want heat to be delivered, make sure the registers are fully open. If the heat meets with resistance as the furnace is trying to deliver it, the heat may just lie dormant in the duct work. Give the warm air as much room as possible, keep all in use registers, fully open.

5) INSULATE OUTSIDE WALL OUTLETS/SWITCHES: A simple step to take is to purchase a couple of the pre-made weathering packets for

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