Heating and Cooling Tucson AZ

Things to mitigate the cost of home heating:

• sealed off leaks around doors and windows
• repaired cracks and gaps in the brick work mortar on my home’s exterior
• shut off a room we don’t use and closed the register
• sealed your ducts and registers (tip: don’t use “duct” tape) 
• turned down the temperature on your water heater
• installed a low flow showerhead
• dramatically increased the attic insulation and insulate the floor joists 

I’m sure all of these tactics have helped, as I’ve seen the natural gas and electric usage has declined with each implementation.

But if there were just two things I’d recommend EVERYONE do immediately before anything else, it would be to:

1. Buy a programmable digital thermostat.
2. Program it effectively

   Programmable Digital Thermostats are the Best way to Cut your Heating Bills
   

   It’s been estimated that for each degree you lower your thermostat, you can expect to save 3% on your heating costs.

   I’ve calculated that installing and programming this thermostat has saved  about 20% on heating costs. According to Energy Star, installing an Energy Star programmable digital thermostat can cut your heating and cooling costs by $180 per year. If you purchase a $80 device (seems to be about the average), that will earn you a return on investment of 300% in just the first year and nothing but sweet, pure savings after that.