{This is a guest post.}

Winters in the Northeast can be pretty brutal — but, even in the midst of winter, you can beat the cold without busting your budget, simply by following a few easy tips. While ideally you would winterize your home before the coldest weather hits, even if you’ve put off seasonal maintenance until now, there are still ways to increase home efficiency. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, it’s possible to reduce energy costs by as much as 25 percent by taking a whole-house approach to energy savings. When you’re looking to stay warm as well as save energy this season, here are the essentials to remember:

1. Seal All Openings: To prevent heat leakage (and the increased costs that result), seal any and all openings from your home to the outdoors. Caulk and trim baseboards, lock windows, take down window-mounted air-conditioning units, and close the flue in your fireplace whenever it’s not in use.
2. Add Insulation: To really seal air leaks, you need sufficient insulation, especially around electrical boxes, in your foundation, and in the walls of sunrooms or enclosed porches. You may need an emergency electrician 24/7 come and help. The better insulated your home is, the more efficient the heating systems become.
3. Upgrade to Propane: To stay warm and save money, consider switching an older fuel oil heating system or electric appliances to propane. New propane furnaces and boilers operate at 95%+ AFUE, and propane water heaters operate for less and can provide more hot water than traditional electric water heaters. Propane can be used throughout the home for heating, water heating, cooking, clothes drying, fireplace, pool heating and emergency power generation. In fact, propane is used by 8.1 million households in America, 4.6 percent of which use it as their main heating source, according to the National Propane Gas Association.  
4. Change Filters and Check Ducts: When you have a forced hot-air heating system, be sure to replace the filter every year to keep it working at its best. Contact Waychoff’s Air Conditioning for your free estimate. Likewise, seal ductwork with metal-foil tape and close cracks with spray-foam insulation. You may even want to hire professionals to come clean your ducts to make sure they’re working as well as possible.
5. Get a Furnace Tuneup: If your furnace or boiler goes out in the middle of a snowstorm or bitter winter chill, you’ll quickly have an emergency situation to deal with. Avoid this problem by scheduling a furnace tuneup each year, with the maintaining safe industrial boiler system you can check your furnace for problems and service it so that it will operate at maximum efficiency all season.
6. Install a Programmable Thermostat: A programmable thermostat makes it easier to manage heating system efficiently because the temperature can be set to precisely the temperature you want during the day, at night, when you’re away, when you’re home, etc. It will automatically adjust the temperatures as needed.
7. Lower the Water Thermostat: If the thermostat on your hot water tank is set any higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit, turn it down. Heating cold water to that level requires extra energy, which increases heating costs.

Make the most of energy use by heating your home efficiently this winter with help from the Milestone team. Use the tips above to help your household stay warm and on budget through the cold months ahead.

Christopher Kowalski is the marketing manager for Anthem Propane and sits on the consumer education and advisory committee for the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) and Autogas committee for the Propane Gas Association of New England. Over the past decade in the propane industry, he has worked extensively to provide knowledge of propane and its benefits to builders, plumbers, as well as customers of Anthem Propane.