How to Keep Your House Warm This Winter Without Raising Your Heating Bill

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Is your house already feeling cold, but the thought of the heating bill makes you reach for a blanket instead of the thermostat?

Start with the leaks, not the thermostat: a 10-minute draft hunt and a 7–10°F overnight setback will do more for your bill than any gadget, and the U.S. Department of Energy puts the setback alone at up to 10% a year.

Most "keep warm" lists hand you twenty tips in no particular order. This one is in the order that pays back first — cheapest and fastest at the top — with the 2026–27 dollar figures so you can see what each move is actually worth

Cozy warm living room in winter with heavy curtains, radiator, and snow outside the window

What This Winter Will Actually Cost

Heating oil homes face the sharpest jump: the EIA forecasts $2,115 for the winter, up 21%.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's Winter Fuels Outlook, published October 6, 2026, splits the country by fuel. Homes that heat with natural gas or propane — about half of U.S. households — should spend less than last winter. Homes on electricity or heating oil will spend more. January is the most expensive month for every fuel: $146 for gas, $509 for oil.

Main heating fuel Winter 2026–27 forecast vs. last winter
Natural gas $640 −9%
Electricity $1,196 +4%
Propane $1,246 −3%
Heating oil $2,115 +21%

One warning about the oil number: the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) puts the oil-heated average higher, at $2,627 — about 50% more than last winter — because it leans on current prices rather than the EIA's assumption that prices ease through March. The gap is a forecast disagreement, not an error, and it matters most if you heat with oil: budget for the EIA number, but keep the NEADA number in mind as the bad case.

Across all fuels, NEADA expects the average household to spend $1,030 on heating this winter, up $82 (8.7%) from last winter — more than 2.5 times the rate of inflation.

Step 1: The 10-Minute Draft Hunt

Find the leaks before you buy anything: most drafts come from a handful of spots you can check in ten minutes.

Warm air escapes through gaps you can feel with your hand on a cold, windy day. Work through these in order:

  • Front and back doors: Hold a lit incense stick near the edges of a closed door. If the smoke moves sideways, you have a draft. A rolled towel or a door snake under the door fixes it for nothing.
  • Windows: Hold a piece of toilet paper near the frame. If it moves, air is getting through. Adhesive foam weatherstripping tape costs a few dollars and takes minutes to apply.
  • Outlets and switches on exterior walls: Cold air leaks through these more than people expect. Foam gaskets behind the cover plates cost pennies each.
  • The attic hatch and the fireplace damper: An open damper is an open chimney. Close it when the fireplace is not in use, and check that the attic hatch sits flat.
  • Mail slots and keyholes: A brush seal on the mail slot and a cover flap on the keyhole stop two small but constant leaks.

Drafts come first because everything else — the thermostat, the curtains, the fan — is fighting a losing battle while cold air pours in.

Step 2: Set the Thermostat the DOE Way

Keep it at 68–70°F while you are awake, then turn it back 7–10°F for eight hours while you sleep or are out.

The Department of Energy's rule is simple: turning the thermostat back 7–10°F for 8 hours a day can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling. The size of the prize on this winter's forecast: 10% of a $640 gas winter is $64; 10% of a $2,115 oil winter is about $212. (My arithmetic on the EIA's forecast figures; the DOE's 10% covers a full year of heating and cooling, so treat these as the scale of the saving, not a promise.)

Two things people get wrong:

  • Cranking the thermostat to the top does not heat the house faster. A furnace runs at one speed. Setting it higher only overshoots the temperature you wanted and wastes fuel.
  • Reheating does not cost more than it saves. The lower the indoor temperature, the more slowly the house loses heat to the outside — so the longer the house sits at the lower temperature, the more energy you save. That is the DOE's own explanation, and it is the opposite of the folk wisdom.

Heat pumps are the exception. The DOE says setback is generally not recommended for heat pumps in heating mode, because the backup electric resistance heat can cancel out the savings. If you heat with a heat pump, keep a moderate, steady setting — or use a thermostat designed for heat pumps.

Step 3: Work Your Windows Twice a Day

Windows account for 25–30% of residential heating and cooling energy use — and 75% of window coverings never move.

The Department of Energy found that three-quarters of residential window coverings stay in the same position every day. That is free heat left on the table. The routine takes seconds:

  • Morning, sunny side: Open the curtains and blinds on south-facing windows so the sun heats the room through the day.
  • At dusk: Close everything. Heavy curtains add a layer of insulation once the sun is gone, and a bare window starts pulling heat out of the room like a cold radiator.
  • If your curtains are thin: Add a thermal lining, or hang a second set behind them. It is the cheapest window upgrade that actually shows up on the bill.

Step 4: Heat the Room You Are In, Not the Whole House

Close the doors to rooms you do not use — but only if your heating system allows it.

Guides contradict each other here, and both sides are half right. With radiators, baseboard heat, or a fireplace, closing doors keeps warmth where you are. With forced-air central heating, closing supply vents and doors can strain the system and unbalance the airflow, so keep the doors open and warm the room you are in with layers and textiles instead.

If you work from home, this is where the warm zone matters most: one heated room beats heating the whole house all day. If your desk lives in a small apartment, the same spot-picking logic applies — see how to set up a home office in a small apartment without a spare room.

Step 5: Reverse the Ceiling Fan and Warm the Person

Warm air collects at the ceiling; a ceiling fan on low, running clockwise, pushes it back down.

Flip the small switch at the base of the fan so the blades run clockwise at low speed. The updraft pushes warm air toward the walls and down into the room — no noticeable breeze, just mixed air. That can let you lower the thermostat a degree or two without feeling it.

Then warm the person, not the house:

  • Layers indoors: A sweater or a base layer lets you drop the thermostat a couple of degrees without noticing — and the saving is real money at oil prices.
  • Rugs on bare floors: Hard floors are cold underfoot and lose heat. A thick rug adds a layer of insulation exactly where your feet are.
  • Dry air feels colder: Winter air is dry, and dry air makes the same temperature feel colder. A humidifier can make a room feel warmer without touching the thermostat.

Renters vs. Homeowners: What You Can Actually Do

Renters can do almost everything above — the fixes that need a drill are the only ones off-limits.

  • Renters: Door snakes, rolled towels, removable window film, heavy curtains, rugs, fan direction, thermostat schedule. None of it needs the landlord's permission.
  • Homeowners: Everything above, plus caulk for fixed gaps, weatherstripping on frames, foam gaskets behind outlet covers, and attic insulation — the one upgrade with the biggest long-term payoff.

If you rent and the windows are single-pane, window film is the renter's version of double glazing: clear plastic shrunk tight with a hair dryer, and it peels off in spring.

Three Things Not to Do

The fastest way to "save" on heat is also the fastest way to a hospital visit.

  • Never heat a room with a gas oven or stovetop. It is inefficient, and it can fill the room with carbon monoxide. If the heat is off, use blankets and layers, not the oven.
  • Do not cover radiators with furniture or long curtains. A sofa in front of a radiator blocks its heat; curtains hanging over one send the warmth straight to the window.
  • Do not leave a space heater running unattended or overnight. Use it only in the room you are in, on a flat surface, away from bedding and curtains — and turn it off when you leave the room.

Key Takeaway

This winter's heating bill is not a fixed cost. The EIA expects the average gas-heated home to spend $640 and the average oil-heated home $2,115 — and the DOE's numbers say a 10-minute draft hunt plus a 7–10°F setback can take up to a tenth off that. None of it needs a contractor, and the renter's version costs almost nothing.

Draft hunt first, thermostat second, windows third — and the bill follows the order you work in.

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