How to save on your home gas bill

The same way you cover you and your family with blankets to stay warm in the winter is the same the water inside your hot water heater needs to stay warm.

Your heater is set to keep the water inside a certain temperature. Allowing drafts and cold air to flow anywhere near your hot water heater lowers the waters temperature inside cause the igniting to burn gas to reheat the water even if you do not use it.

This winter these simple tips could save you hundreds of dollars in you homes gas bill. With our economies uncertainty, money saving tips and personal finance is one topic none of can afford to ignore.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hot water heater blanket
• Weather strips

1. First buy a very inexpensive hot water heater blanket and weather strips. I paid just $ 16.00 for one at Lowe's. I'm sure Home depot or other home improvement stores stock them. The weather strips can be bought at any hardware store or even Wal Mart and K mart.

2. When your doors and windows are closed and the inside of your home is dark you should not be able to see any sun light coming in around your doors or windows. The peel and stick weather strips placed so you can still close the doors and windows. This will eliminate unwanted any heat loss.

3. Next wrap the heating blanket around your hot water heater making ABSOLUTELY sure that Pressure Relief Valve has a whole cut out of the vinyl and fiberglass wrap. See what the valve looks like in the picture I provided. This is a safety valve that lets out pressure preventing your hot water heater from becoming a rocket.

4. Using the vinyl tape secure the blanket. Do not insulate or wrap the blanket on top of the water heater. That's were your vent is located. You hot water heater also has a temperature dial and a assess door usually located at the bottom of your how water heater. Cut an open to keep these exposed as well.

5. Now that you wrapped your hot water heater using a vinyl / fiberglass wrap and made sure no drafts were coming in or heat was escaping out it's time to lower the temperature on your hot water heater. My unit has an ABC letter code. A low temperature D hot enough to burn. I recommend keeping the dial on or just below the A in the warmer months and on the A or just above for winter months.

6. These simple steps will raise your heating RA plus 2 or more. You should recover the $ 20.00 it cost you in less than two months.

Tips & Warnings

• Your heater is set to keep the water inside a certain temperature. Allowing drafts and cold air to flow anywhere near your hot water heater lowers the waters temperature inside cause the igniting to burn gas to reheat the water even if you do not use it.
• Please read all instructions on the blankets package. If unsure contact a local plumbing and or heating professional.

Resources

• Street Bloggers

[cclofmead]

on 5/24/2009 Great tips for saving on the gas bill!! 5*