5 Things you can do to save money on your heating bill…

- Clean your furnace and change your filters. Clean systems run much more efficiently than dirty ones, PLUS you can find tune-ups for under $100 right now, and that’s a great deal.

- Use your ceiling fan. Reversing the direction of your fans in the winter will help circulate warm air through your house. That means make them spin counter-clockwise. There is a switch on your fan to reverse it.

Remember, ceiling fans won’t heat or cool (they contain no heating or cooling element) but they can help circulate the air you paid to have heated or cooled.

- Keep your shades up and your blinds open during the day. Take advantage of that natural daylight and solar heating to add warmth to your home. Take another step and hang heavier drapes. That will help insulate your house and keep the heat in and the cool out (or vice-versa in the summer).

- Install and use a programmable thermostat. Use it to lower the temperature of your house when you are away and/or sleeping.

Not judging here, but if your thermostat is a round, copper one – you are about three technological advances behind in thermostat technology.

Thermostats now have the ability to sense when you are home, and where you are in your house, and can adapt to a pre-set temperature setting. Having access to yours on your smart phone comes in handy as well, in ways you haven’t even thought about.

- Turn it off. If you aren’t using it, shut it down. Read this out loud to your kids.

Read it again. Out loud. To your kids. Shut it off.

Once more. Think they were listening? Me either…