OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — As the weather gets cooler, you'll probably crank up the heat soon. But electricity, natural gas and oil could see price spikes.
That's why Omaha homeowners like Andrew Gustafson do what they can to cut costs. He's a stay-at-home dad and a full-time student. His family is facing a tighter budget.
"We try to do everything we can to cut back on our energy use," Gustafson said.
They do this through modifications to their everyday routines.
"If my son or my daughter have the lights on in their room or they're at school, we try to explain to them: 'You guys, you really don't need to have the lights on' if they're not here," Gustafson said.
That's just one example of something you can do to save money. SOS Heating and Cooling's Jake Wasikowski lists some other tips.
"Opening the windows kind of lets the air temperature stay more even. Opening the blinds helps heat up your home if you need to heat it up at the time as well," Wasikowski said.
Depending on the age of your equipment, opening the windows or turning your thermostat down or off can save you between $10 to $25 dollars a month. You can also save money by washing your clothes in cold water. Also, insulate your windows. Upgrading your equipment can also save you energy.
"A furnace that's 20-30 years old is using the same electricity as a microwave where a new furnace's blower is actually used in the same electricity as a 75-watt lightbulb," Wasikowski said.
You could consider getting a high-efficiency furnace that uses less electricity and less gas, putting more money in your pocket and conserving energy.
A standard furnace is 80%, where 80% of the money a consumer puts into gas goes toward heat and 20% goes out of the exhaust. For a high-efficiency furnace, 98% of the money is converted to heat and very little goes out of the exhaust. Since it's more efficient, the owner saves money over time.
"We're seeing more and more people going up to high efficient furnaces as well because they really see how the energy prices have gone up and they say, 'I may have to pay a little more upfront for the equipment but I know I'll make that on the backend the longer I live in my house,'" Wasikowski said.
Making conscious choices is how Gustafson best adapts to the change in seasons while keeping his bills consistent.
"When you have a family you're concerned about, definitely, you want to save money wherever you can," Gustafson said.
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