Winter may not be officially here yet, but it sure feels like it after this month’s cold snap. The heaters are on, the thick doona is back on the bed, and I’m even wearing gloves driving to work at 4am. Don’t let the sudden cold weather numb your senses, control your energy usage this winter.

Use an efficient heater

You’re much better off heating your home with natural gas instead of electricity. Gas heaters can be expensive to buy, but are cheaper to run and produce less greenhouse gas emissions than electric heathers. They’re great for heating big living areas. When buying a gas heater look at the energy star rating, the more efficient the better.

Portable electric heaters like bar radiators and fan heaters are cheap to buy but costly to run, so only use them to warm small rooms for short periods. If you have central heating make sure you can select which rooms to heat, so you don’t waste energy heating the entire house.

Carbon neutral pellet stoves or heaters are becoming more popular. They burn wood waste, like sawdust and wood shavings, which have been reprocessed into pellets. Pellets are much drier than normal wood and therefore burn longer and provide more heat than a regular wood stove. Pellet stoves can be expensive to install, but cheap and environmentally friendly to run.

Don’t overheat your home

Energy Australia says the temperature of a heated room in winter should be 18 to 21 degrees. Every degree above that you program your heater adds about 10 per cent to your heating costs. If you’re cold, put on an extra jumper during the day and dig out your old flannelette pajamas and knitted booties for bed.

Cut your hot water bill

Hot water accounts for over a third of the average household’s energy use. Resist the temptation for longer showers this winter. The average shower is eight minutes…try halving that. If you have an electric hot water heater make sure you turn it off when you go away on holidays.

Water heating is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions from the average Australian family. Consider using state and federal government incentives to switch to a solar hot water system to help the environment and your hip pocket. It can cut your hot water bill by up to 90 per cent… that’s hundreds of dollars saved.

Insulate

Insulation keeps your house warmer in winter, cooler in summer and can cut your heating and cooling costs by a third. It’s one of the easiest ways to save energy and the environment.

If you have recently installed insulation your home will be a couple of degrees warmer this winter. Don’t automatically turn up the heat now cold weather has set in, wait till you really feel it.

Be smart this winter

You can also cut your heating bill with a bit of commonsense. Close doors to rooms you don’t use, open curtains to let in the sun during the day then close them at night, prune tree branches that block the sunlight, and seal any draughts around windows or doors.

Program your heater to switch on 20 minutes before you wake up then turn it off 20 minutes before you leave the house or go to bed. Use your electric blanket to warm your bed and then flick it off before you go to sleep.