One Dinky Blanket Could Save You $360 This Winter?

Want to save $360 this winter? Of course you do. As long as it doesn’t require too much work on your part, right? It’s simple, really, and it won’t inconvenience you, so long as kitty can stand a few degrees’ decrease while you’re at work.


Budget blues? Nothing that a good blanket can’t fix.

Want to save $360 this winter? Of course you do. As long as it doesn’t require too much work on your part, right?

It’s simple, really, and it won’t inconvenience you, so long as kitty can stand a few degrees’ decrease while you’re at work. What’s fur for, anyway?

Turn your thermostat down 8 degrees when you leave for work. If you already keep your house at 70 degrees, turn it down to 62. Already at 68? Kick it down a notch to 60.

Assuming you work an eight-hour day and spend 46 minutes on your commute (the average for U.S. commuters), you get nine hours of savings right there, or about $180.

But we promised $360, and we don’t break our promises.

Go ahead and warm up when you get home from work. But before bed, throw on another blanket and turn your thermostat down to 62 degrees. Sure, it’ll be nippier than usual, but it also gives you an excuse to wear your Snuggie to bed. For another $180 in your pocket, isn’t it worth it?

There’s even a bonus: Turning down the temp in your bedroom will actually improve your sleep. Don’t believe it? Well, if you want to diss a Stanford PhD who’s an expert on temperature’s relationship to better sleep, that’s on you. Biologist H. Craig Heller says an internal thermostat regulates your body temp, and when you want to sleep, your brain naturally decreases your core temp. Turning down the heat in your bedroom helps you achieve this ideal temperature faster, and you sleep more soundly.

An extra couple hundred bucks in your pocket shouldn’t hurt either.

How Do We Know All This? Cuz we’re brilliant. Also:
Gallup has this great little survey on everything you ever wanted to know about commutes.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast heating oil at $3.18/gallon for winter 2010-2011. If only you could run a car with it.
Of the EIA’s mind-numbingly detailed info on winter heating fuel prices, the key takeaway is that living in the Northeast blows. But you knew that.
Thermostats are good for your wallet. The EPA says so.
-Amy Kniss, eHow Money Editor