Household Checks
Even natural gas companies, as concerned as they are with environment and gas rates, and more, will in their regard for what natural gas costs the consumers offer up numerous strategies for lowering your natural gas bill:
- First, check doors and windows for seams, cracks, gaps—anything that creates draft and allows cold in and heat out. In cases where you find such openings, purchase some (very affordable, easy to install) weather stripping for the sides of windows and doors and door sweep for the underside of doors.
- Next, check that your furnace is working at an optimum: if it is dirty with creosote build-up, for example, the appliance will run far less efficiently. If this is the case, 1) clean the air filter (on any forced-air furnace); 2) get a technician to clean and tune the furnace; or 3) where possible, replace an outmoded piece with a more energy efficient one, also keeping in mind to not buy one in a size any larger than you really need.
- Next, check that your water heater (if it also burns natural gas) is at its most energy-efficient: for instance, ensure that the water heating pipes are wrapped; and if your unit needs one, make the wise, one-time investment and purchase an insulating jacket that is wrapped around the belly of the water heater to keep the heat contained—saving up to 25 percent more heat energy a year with a heating jacket than without it.
- Next, to save money on your natural gas bill, if you have an older home, or if, say, you rent a summer cottage year round, check that is well insulated. If not, you can purchase the new human user-friendly, environmentally friendly spray foam insulation: it is easy to use and even comes in varied capacities: if you have wider gaps needing filling, you can purchase expanding foam, or if not, you can go with the non-expanding style.
- Next, look around the house or home for other possible cost-cutting measures you might act on: for instance, switch out the shower head for a low-flow device; add a thermostat to other rooms where heat is piped in but where people leave the heat running when they have exited the room; and plug those unused vents (with magnetic flaps you can cut to size), unused fireplaces, and doors of unused rooms.
Expert Advice
And finally, you can always call in the other experts: natural gas companies, or their providers, typically offer a free energy audit service. These constituents, like you, are concerned with your being happy with your gas rates, are ready with advice, and as environmentally-aware and concerned fellow citizens may have additional hints and tips on how to lower your natural gas bill.
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