The title is no surprise is it? Each year at this time as winter is on us, so do price rises of our gas and electric arrive – or so it seems. We should be preparing for it – but are we? For many this will be the toughest time of year for those bills rise as the temperatures fall outside and the need to keep our houses warm increases.

So what sort of checklist should we have to go through and make sure we are prepared, or what can we do to reduce those bills? Well depending on where you live in the world – and certainly in UK at this time, it goes something like this:

1. Adjust the thermostats in the house in a flexible way. Don’t heat the bedrooms until you need to. For sure it is cost efficient to leave them on a very low heat regime during the cold winter days but only bring the temperature up to the level you feel you need when you need it. Experiment with the thermostats to see how long it takes really to bring the room to the right temperature for you. Then set the thermostat clock to allow for this.

2. Leaving the house, it goes without saying that when you go out you don’t need to leave the house heating on full blast because heat loss is occurring. Remember to adjust the thermostats, especially if you are going to work.

3. Insulation - do you have enough insulation to reduce the amount of heat you are going to lose to that cold outside world? The fact is that we heat our houses and a lot of that energy is escaping from the roof, (insulate the loft), the walls, (insulate in between the bricks or add a lining to the wood), the doors (insulate around the edges and open as little as possible and for as short a period as possible). It is not too late to do that now even if there is snow outside.

4.The House is a box - I like to think of the house as a box which we keep at the temperature we feel comfortable with, either hot or cold and the need to prevent escape of the heat in every way possible. Why? because– heat lost is money lost – simple.

Check round each of these areas for draughts and remedy where you find them.

5. Engage the Family - talk to the family about keeping the doors closed or one big rush of hot air simply escapes and you then have to replace it, and that is throwing money away.

6. Basements – if you have one can be a very cold place during the winter. Don’t forget that this block of cold air is also cooling the underside of the house, so you need to put an insulation barrier between it and the basement. Feel the floor above the basement and see what we mean. This in turn keeps the room above it cooler than you want, great in summer but not in the winter.

Just a little thought on these items will save you money with your bills over this long period of Winter. If you need more tips and tricks look for a site dedicated to this type of information to give you the details.

Also when you are looking for remedies to these issues above check around for special offers, and most of all go for Companies with a solid reputation. Get price comparisons as you will want their work to last many years. Quality will cost but pay for itself in the long run.

Good luck in reducing those bills, do you think the above points will work for you?

Hudson