baby it's cold outside

and who doesn't want to keep that cold where it belongs... outside?!

the furnace is one of those oft-neglected things -- at least until winter hits and your heating costs leave you reeling. besides doing something really simple, like putting on a sweater, keeping your furnace in tip-top form will help put a serious dent in that exorbitant utility bill.

start with your filter. it’s amazing how crudded-up it gets -- and, the more clogged it is, the harder the furnace has to work to keep you cuddly warm. to check the filter, turn off the furnace’s power source, remove the filter, and hold it up to a light and see if the light shines through. if it’s anything like mine, chances are, it doesn’t (blech!).

the good news is that filters are cheap, only costing about 50 cents, and they’re easy to replace. just be sure to measure your old filter before you run out, all gung-ho, to the hardware store just to get home and realize that what you just bought doesn’t fit. also, because best practices say that filters should be replaced every three months, you might as well throw caution to the wind and plop down an extra buck or two so you have replacements on hand.

phew! now that you’re furnace is heating properly, throw on a sweater and get over to that thermostat!

in cold weather, keep your thermostat set to 68 degrees or lower during your waking hours. when you go to bed, turn the thermostat even lower to 55 degrees (or, if you’re hardier than i am, just turn it off). also, when you head off for that ski weekend adventure, put the thermostat to the nightime setting. as a general rule, every degree you lower a thermostat's set temperature in the winter will save 3 percent of energy costs over a 24-hour period, and setting the thermostat properly in winter can save from 5 percent to 20 percent on your heating costs. if that doesn’t warm you up, i don’t know what will!