Money saving idea!
By jillhill
@jillhill (37354)
United States
February 11, 2009 7:47am CST
When my daughter was home for Christmas they were almost always too warm...because they set their thermostat lower then I do. But my daughter said that if you even turn it down 2 degrees you can save 20-30% on your heating bill. So after they left I started turning down my thermostat when I went to work...just 2 degrees and I got my utility bill yesterday and even with all the very cold temps I saved $30.00 from my last bill. When I get home from work and on my days off I leave it...but just by turning it down when I was not home I saved that much money! Do you leave your thermostat the same all the time or do you turn it down when you are gone?
5 people like this
13 responses
@Jae2619 (1483)
• United States
11 Feb 09
I always have mine turned down, to keep it from kicking on all the time, whether we are home or not. If i feel a chill, I'll grab a blanket or something to wrap up in so I don't have to kick it on. Even in the summer time we turn it up a few degress so it decreases the amout of times it kicks on. It saves us money, so I'm all about that. 
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
11 Feb 09
In my Flat I have what you call Storage Heaters they heat up at Night and then throw the Heat out during the Day and if I do not have them on full it will not warm up and I can't really regulate them either
But in my old House I used to turn it on low and then up when I got back and yes it makes a Difference
@bizmom24 (163)
• United States
11 Feb 09
Well our air condition guy came to redo our system, and he told us if you keep it at 72-73 should keep our bill down, and well we just now started using our eat. it's been off for 4 months. so hope our bill is not very much this month. so we will keep it at that and see just how well he knows his job.lol but saving on your electric bill yes it's a must. we turn it off also when we are gone. so that helps as well.
Bizmom24
1 person likes this
@messageme (2821)
• United States
11 Feb 09
I have heard that about saving too. Last winter I always kept my thermostate on 70. this year I wanted to try and save so I have kept my thermostat on 67. Funny thing is I have not saved anything my bills are just as high if not higher. Could be the price per kw has gone up, I'm not sure. But I haven't saved anything and I can't go any lower than 67 because even that in this big old house is freezing cold in here.
1 person likes this
@vishwaskg (514)
• India
11 Feb 09
Superb,,,, Cudos to your daughter for showing us an example as to how by doing small things we can save a lot of money,,,and also thank you for sharing your opinion here,, this will definitely reach a ot many people ... and will go a long way in helping not only people's money but also save precious resources....
Cheers!
Vishwas
@minnie_98214 (10557)
• United States
11 Feb 09
I do usually keep in down a bit to save money but with a baby in the house i just cant do that this winter. I do have a few electric heaters on to help ease the gas bill a little bit.
1 person likes this
@34momma (13882)
• United States
11 Feb 09
i live in an apartment building so i don't have to pay for heat. however, here is another great money saving tip. get yourself a few extention cords. plug all of your things into that and then us that to plug into the wall. before you leave the house every day unplug it from the wall. that will save you a lot of money. you will see a decrease in your eletric bill. just because you turn off things like the tv, microwave, alarm clocks, doesn't mean they are not still pulling electrity. just another great way to start saving money in times like these. even better if you own a home with really high bills
@AmbiePam (94044)
• United States
13 Feb 09
I turn it off when I'm gone. I still couldn't believe my electricity bill this month. I almost cried. The month prior it had been huge. But I read in the paper most people's had been high because of storms they estimated most bills very large. But the next bill people got would be a lot lower. But mine was barely lower. I called, but they insisted the bill was right. It's hard to believe since I don't have the thermostat on when I'm not home, and I don't sleep with heat or air conditioning during the night (the apartment managers have not changed the air filters, and it aggravates my allergies).
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
13 Feb 09
The one before this almost knocked my socks off...I don't pay on a payment plan like alot of people do because I like the smaller ones in the spring and fall..but we had alot of cold weather and it still went down! I don't know what you can do to lower your's....it has alot to do with the insulation too!
1 person likes this
@sweetpeasmom (1325)
• United States
12 Feb 09
I leave ours on 68 and never touch it. I really noticed a huge difference when I started doing this. In the summer I leave it on about 72. Lucky for us our house is only a couple of years old and has great windows and is pretty tight. so sometimes in the middle of summer I have to turn the ac off. we freeze.
@dropofrain (1167)
• India
12 Feb 09
I try and keep the thermostat lower when the men are gone from the home. I try and curtail my electricity bill as much as possible as it can be avoided expenses. With the slowdown in the economy, I think we need to find new ways to stay cool.
@aprilj1231 (288)
• United States
11 Feb 09
We keep ours down all the time because it saves money and we know that if we are cool we can put more clothes on or grab a blanket. Our kids are used to it too. We also close off the vent in the back bedroom because we don't use it, and in the bathroom because it's small and the heat from the other rooms is enough in there. If we are going out of town we turn it down even lower and in the summer we turn the A/C way up when we are out of town too.
@rebelann (112995)
• El Paso, Texas
19 May 20
With help from space heaters I leave my thermostat low
