8 ways to stay warm with the furnace off

By Peggy Mackenzie

A recent Direct Energy survey found that 56 per cent of Ontario homeowners are concerned or angry about their upcoming winter bills. Count me among this group.

My Enbridge gas heating bill rose from $1,600 a few years ago to a projected $2,100 for the 2011/2012 heating season, despite the fact that my gas boiler furnace never gets turned on before mid-October and is off by the end of April and we keep the thermostat at 17C.

How cold does it have to get before you turn the heat on in your home?

Every year, my husband and I see who cries “uncle” first before we bleed the radiators and turn on the furnace. We try to make it to November like my Montreal friend Deborah, but we always fall short. The closest we came was Oct. 24th in our first year as homeowners but that was due more to ignorance than fortitude since we didn’t know how to turn on the furnace.

When temperatures plummeted to 5C at the beginning of October, our kids threatened legal action if the heat wasn’t turned on , luckily Thanksgiving rewarded us with balmy temperatures.

I stumbled across this blog at the Times Union, which proves that many of us delay putting the heat on in the fall.

The 14-day forecast for Toronto shows temperature highs hovering around the 15C mark so to try and hold out as long as possible my family will be following these non-renovation tips gleaned from myself, Michael Bluejay (Mr. Electricity) and About.com. We'll still use them when we do turn on the heat:

• Use space heaters: Heating the whole house is more expensive than heating the rooms you're using.

• Use ceiling fans: Change the direction to blow the air upwards so it bounces hot air off the ceiling and back into the room.
• Dress in layers: Now is the time to wear that Icelandic sweater your girlfriend knit you in university. Wear wool socks and pad around in slippers. Put on a hat.
• Unpack the throw blankets: they’re a stylish accessory for couches and provide warmth for couch potatoes.
• Oven: Keep the oven door open after baking.
• Electric blankets: Needless to say, flannel is on our beds, but if I see a good sale on electric blankets I’ll be adding them to the arsenal.
• Close the fireplace damper: Heat escapes through the damper when the fireplace is not in use.
• Window coverings: Gain passive solar energy and let the sun shine in during the day; close the curtains at night and keep the cold out.