Lower Your Heating Bills This Winter with These Tips from Toronto Hydro

As the weather gets colder, you're sure to notice that your heating and electricity bills are increasing. Shorter days and dropping temperatures mean that your lights and furnace are working overtime for the next few months. No one likes to spend more money on bills than they have to, so how do you keep yours in check without freezing in the dark?

You can perform your own energy audit this winter. New homes come with many energy-efficient options that resale homes may not have, so if you've bought new or are currently looking at new developments, then you could already be ahead of the game. However, regular maintenance and other everyday considerations can drastically reduce your heating and hydro bills. And the good news is that they're simple things that you might not have thought about before.

Tanya Bruckmueller, spokesperson at Toronto Hydro, says the number one thing you can do to save energy?and money?over the winter is to switch your light bulbs to compact fluorescents (CFLs). "Lighting is the simplest thing to do; many other things you can't change, [so] you have to look for things that won't compromise your life," says Bruckmueller, noting that CFLs use 70 to 90 per cent less electricity than regular light bulbs. With the upcoming holidays, those who like to get into the festive spirit may find that their bills soar astronomically. "There's LED [Light Emitting Diode] light bulbs as well to gear up for the holidays, that use from 85 to 95 per cent less electricity." And though Bruckmueller acknowledges that not everyone likes the look of LED lights, she says that "it's a matter of behaviour shifting; people are used to the old lights but will?adjust to the new colours in time."

In fact,Toronto Hydro ran a promotional campaign recently where residents could exchange two strings of old holiday lights for one new string of LED lights. If you missed the exchange this year, be sure to mark it on your calendar for next year's season. While regular holiday lights cost one dollar for 15 hours of electricity, says Bruckmueller, LED lights cost one dollar for 15 days of electricity. That's enough to get even the biggest Scrooge into the spirit!

Other Toronto Hydro tips include using long, heavy drapes that have insulated liners to keep the heat inside your house keeping rugs on the floors, and replacing your furnace filter every month to ensure efficient operation. "Make sure, especially as a new home shifts, that you caulk, seal, and weatherstrip anywhere there's a potential for heat loss. You can also put plastic film on the windows that maybe wouldn't be opened in the winter," explains Bruckmueller. For more tips from Toronto Hydro, visit www.torontohydro.com