The human body gives off about 500 Btus of heat every hour. For cheap heat, crowd friends and family into a room and close the door. Shower before assembly.

Turn the thermostat down and go outside and run around for awhile.

Remove obstructions near heating units, such as armchairs, couches, drapes, bookshelves and rugs so they don’t block radiators, floor vents and baseboards.

Make sure cold air intake vents for forced hot air systems are open and unobstructed.

Keep your pipes clean. Remove covers to expose baseboard piping. Use a broom to remove dust and lint, then vacuum.

Keep closet doors closed. Close off unused rooms.

Pull back curtains, shades, drapes and window quilts on windows with southern exposures on days when the sun is shining. Close at night. Keep windows clean.

Keep waterbed made to retain heat.

Close damper in fireplaces and woodstoves when not in use.

Don’t linger in outside doorways. Keep doors open only long enough to enter and exit.

Adjust thermostat down a couple of degrees at a time until you feel cool, then raise it slowly a degree or two. If cold when you enter a room, turn the heat up slowly until you hear the furnace kick on. Avoid frequent adjustments.

Bleed air from radiators.

Use kitchen, bathroom ventilation fans sparingly.

Use warm water for washing clothes rather than hot and substitute cold for warm. Only run dishwasher when full.

Wear sweaters and warm slippers indoors rather than shorts and T-shirts.

Simple and relatively cheap

Wrap hot water heater with insulation. Lower the temperature on the hot water heater.

Insulate outlets, switches or junction boxes on exterior walls or unheated spaces. Use foam rubber backers or spray foam.

Insulate heating and domestic hot and cold water pipes with foam covers. Also cover heating ducts with insulation. Spray foam in openings around pipes and wiring.

Plant deciduous trees and shrubs on southern elevation of home. In summer, they shade home from sun. In winter, the leaves drop off and provide solar heat.

Use storm doors and storm windows.

Use sweeps on bottom of doors to seal out cold.

Caulk cracks in woodwork on exterior walls.

Blow cellulose (recycled newspaper) insulation into walls of ceilings.

Equip showers with low-flow shower heads and take 5-minute showers or shorter. Shower with a spouse – or friend.

Cover bare ground in crawl space with polyethylene.

Windows
Cheaper

1. Reglaze loose panes and replace broken panes

2. Weather-strip between sash and sills

3. Stretch polyethylene plastic across window interiors, attach with tape or stapled strip of wood.

4. Seal and insulate basement windows

More expensive

1. Install storm windows (saves 25 to 50 percent of heat loss)

2. Replace windows with more energy efficient ones (double or triple thermal pane glass)

Doors

1. Weather-strip with felt, rubber or vinyl around door jamb

2. Use sweeps for bottoms of doors

3. Reglaze door glass

4. Replace cracked panes in door

5. Replace single-glazed door glass with thermal pane glass

Furnace
Cheaper

1. Have thorough inspection and cleaning done, including replacement of air and oil filters, etc.

2. Clean chimney

More expensive

1. Replace furnace (could save up to 40 percent)

2. Install a new flame retention oil burner (could save up to 15 percent)

Keep the heat in

1. Insulate attic and crawl spaces.

2. Consult an energy auditor for additional help determining insulation needs.

3. Use some homemade insulation around the outer foundation, including hay bales and bags of leaves, or plant thick, low-lying bushes.

Consider the alternatives

1. Active or passive solar panels

2. Wind power

And what about …

Other long-term energy saving tips, like:

1. Rezoning your heating system in your home to isolate seldom-used rooms.

2. Adding a mud room.

3. Installing a pet door

4. Putting in a heat-capturing inside dryer vent