Here is a list of items that you should check..

If you have a boiler heater (hot water) check and make sure the temperature settings are right. The high side should be no higher than 190 degrees and the low should be around 175. This will save you a lot. What you don’t want is your heater coming on when the temperature is too low. This means your heater will be on longer and working harder, so it’s very important to have these settings right and right for your house. Also, make sure you have your filters changed. Not just checked, but replaced.

Doors

Check all your exterior door seals. This is something you really wouldn’t notice in the summertime. Take a good look at them making sure you can’t see any light coming through. An easy way is to light incense or if you smoke, place some smoke around the door and see if you get any movement. This a for-sure way to locate any air leaks.

Windows

During the summer you opened and closed your windows and by doing so you could’ve very well broken a seal. So examine all these seals very well and of course replace any ripped or broken seals.

Outlets

When it’s a windy and cold day, go around and place your hand over all the exterior wall outlets and switches. There’s a good chance you will feel some coldness. Now in order to really fix this, you would have to install more insulation in the wall. But there’s an easier way to do this. If you go to your home store and ask for electrical outlet seals they can direct you to where they are. Most of the time they will be in the area where they keep all the winter, door, window seals. Very easy to install, just remove the outlet cover and install this foam seal. The outlet cover goes right over it.

Water Heater

Now most of us have our water heater in the basement, hey it works down there and it’s out of the way. The problem is most basements are unfinished and cold. What you need to do is cover the hot water heater with a hot water heater blanket. You can find these at your home store and are very cheap. Read the instructions. Now your heater won’t be working as hard in the summer and winter.

Water Pipes

Most water pipes are below us, they are in your cold basement ceilings or crawl spaces. This means the water in these pipes never has a chance to get hot. You need to wrap these pipes with insulation. Use these black foam covers, they come in different sizes, most homes would be 1/2 and 3/4 inch. They are very easy to install, they just slip right over the pipe. This includes all your baseboard hot water heater pipes. Look at it like this, hot water leaves your heater at about 190 degrees, and if that pipe ran for say 15 feet before going into a heater that was all loose money and heat coming off the pipe. So at one end, it’s 190 and 15 feet away it’s 185. WOW, what a waste! I mean this is how these heaters work, they dispense the heat in the pipes via heaters. So insulating these pipes is a great idea. And what a money saver!