Tips To Trim Higher Heating Costs
Con Edison is reminding New Yorkers to winterize their homes by taking a few easy steps before heating season arrives.
To help customers prepare for cold weather and manage costs, Con Edison offers these tips for insulating homes, saving on bills and staying safe:
– Boilers offer the greatest potential for savings. Have a qualified contrac tor clean and inspect your heating system to make sure it is operating efficiently. High efficiency gas boilers can save customers as much as 40 percent on heating bills.
– Set your thermostat at 68 degrees during the day and 60 degrees at night. Turning the thermostat back 10 to 15 percent eight hours a day can trim seasonal heating costs up to 10 percent. Thermostats in homes with infants, elderly, or ill individuals should be set higher.
– Prevent heat loss by sealing air leaks around window and door frames with caulk or weather stripping.
Retain heat by installing storm or thermal windows and doors, double paned glass, or plastic sheeting over doors and windows.
– Keep shades and curtains open during the day so the sun can make your home warmer. Close them in the evening to keep the heat in. Move drapes or furniture from around radiators so that heat can flow.
– Check your doors for drafts. If any light can be seen around the perimeter of your door(s) you know that air is getting in. Install Weather stripping found at any local hardware store.
– Do not heat rooms with a range or oven. These appliances are not designed for space heating. Using a range or oven for hearing can cause a fire, deplete oxygen levels and create a buildup of lethal carbon monoxide.
– Never operate a portable generator indoors.
– Never extinguish a pilot light. Blowing out the pilot doesn’t stop gas from escaping and can create a dangerous inlet for natural gas. Don’t create a gas leak to save a few pennies.
– If you smell a strong odor of gas, leave the premises immediately and take others with you. Do not strike a match, use a phone, switch on electrical appliances, lights, or even a flashlight in the area where you smell gas.
– Report all indoor and outdoor gas leaks 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling toll-free 1-800-75- CONED (1-800-752-6633).
The company has also secured adequate natural gas supplies for its 1.1 million gas customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester County and parts of Queens. Approximately 280,000 of those customers use gas to heat their homes.
Con Edison expects that gas heating bills for its customers will be slightly higher than last year due to increased delivery costs. The average gas-heating residential winter bill from November to March (based on monthly usage of 237 therms) is expected to be approximately $347.70 per month, up from $336.36 last year (3.4 percent increase).
To maintain the high reliability of its gas delivery system, Con Edison is installing 20 new regulating stations through 2013 to reinforce its infrastructure and allow for the growth in oil to gas conversions. Customers who are interested in converting to natural gas can learn more about the benefits of using this clean energy, and available energy efficiency incentives, by visiting www.coned.com/gasconversions.
The company also offers energy efficiency incentives and rebates for almost everyone. Customers can learn more about Con Edison’s energy efficiency programs at www.coned.com/greenteam or by calling the “Green Team” at 1-877-870-6118.
