MoneyMoose

Gerri Willis has posted a nice guide on how to save money on heating costs.

“Americans will spend $977 to heat their homes this year, 10% more than last year…

• Get the R-Value
• Measure existing insulation
• Choose your insulation
• Avoid fire”

Although the advice offered here is solid, I’ve got some tips of my own to help you nestled up cozy as a bear. Or a moose. Do moose (mooses? meese? mice) hibernate? I’ll get back to you on that.

• Embrace Fire

Fire has helped our ancestors ever since ol’ Jimmy Cliffpounder got struck my lightning. Without the powers of fire, it’s arguable that humanity could not have survived. Fire has got the longest track record for giving off heat than any other provider (except for perhaps the sun).

That means it’s reliable. Although it’s marketing techniques can be questioned (burning down peoples houses? Come on, fire! You can think of something better), its usability cannot. If you want to get hot, get fire. All you need are a bunch of logs, some tinder, and a match or a lighter. This will come to a grand total of around $30 for the entire year - even less if you find your own logs and tinder. In fact, fire can come absolutely free if you simple strike some rocks together for a while. If you buy premium fire-making tools, you’ll still receive a saving of around 3300%. You just don’t find rates like that anywhere else.

• Buy Lots Of Blankets

Blankets are another extremely economic measure to staying warm during the winter. You can get some nice fluffy ones for a few dollars each. They work great near fire, except sometimes fire uses its extreme advertising methods on it. It is not advised to keep blankets within six inches of fire, because, like anyone, fire loves blankets. With six blankets, you can practically replicate the effect of a heating system. If you want it to be five degrees hotter, put on another blanket. If you want it to be five degrees cooler, take on off. It’s as simple as that. Buying six blankets at a price of 5 dollars each is $30 - a savings of around 3300% on conventional heating methods.

Hopefully this quick guide has helped you think of safe, effective, and economic methods of keeping yourself (and your family?) warm.

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