The Cheapest Ways to Heat a 1,400-Square-Foot Home

Use Wood

• Using a fireplace or a wood stove is an economical way to heat your home. Wood or wood pellets are typically cheaper than using gas to heat a house. Choose a central place in your home to install the stove, because it will heat many more rooms that way.

Be Economical

• Do not heat rooms you do not use. If you have a spare bedroom or other room that remains unoccupied most of the year, simply stop heating it and you will save money. Close all the vents in that room and then shut the door, keeping the heat out of it.

Use Space Heaters

• Space heaters can help warm rooms that don't receive as much heat as others. Don't crank the heat all the way up to warm every room; space heaters cost less to run than your furnace. Use in them rooms only when you are occupying them and then shut them off for the rest of the day.

Program Your System

• Invest in a heating system in which you can program the thermostat. A programmable thermostat allows you to control the temperature in your house even when you're not home. You can set the heat to a lower setting when your family is not around and have it automatically rise by the time you get home, only to lower again when you're in bed.

Insulate Your Home

• Proper insulation helps keep heat in and your utility bills down. Install insulation in rooms that don't have it. Adding weather stripping to windows and doors stops heat from exiting through small spaces and gaps. Feel for drafts around the perimeter of your windows and doors and then apply the stripping.

Use a Newer System

• A high-efficiency furnace or boiler can go a long way toward cutting down your heat bills. New systems are designed to use fuel only when necessary. Talk to a professional about how much replacing your furnace or boiler would cost. It is likely he will come to your 1,400-square-foot home and examine its layout before quoting you a price.