As the temperatures drop, you can take steps to increase comfort and decrease costs during the winter months.

 Your Heating System

• Have your heating system checked by a licensed heating and air-conditioning professional. Most experts recommend at least one inspection a year.
• Replace your furnace filter. Clogged filters mean that the heating system has to work harder to circulate air. Check the filter about once a month and change if needed.
• Install a programmable thermostat. A programmable thermostat automatically lowers the temperature while you are at work or asleep and raises it back to a comfortable temperature before you get home or the alarm goes off. Turning your thermostat down to 65 degrees F from 72 F for eight hours a day can save as much as 10 percent of your heating costs. If you have a heat pump, be sure your programmable thermostat is compatible with your heat pump.
• Set the temperature at 68 degrees F. Warmer settings will increase your heating costs about three percent for each degree above 68.

Ways to Improve Efficiency and Comfort

• Caulk, seal and weather-strip around seams, cracks and openings to the outside, particularly around windows and where siding or bricks and wood trim meet.
• Seal around all pipes and ducts that penetrate exterior walls.
• Install foam gaskets behind electrical outlets and switches. If you feel cold air coming in around your electrical outlets, this is an inexpensive and easy way to seal the openings. In addition to protecting curious toddlers, plastic safety plugs also reduce air leakage from unused outlets.
• Add insulation. Most homes built before 1980 were not insulated to modern standards. Also, attic insulation settles over time, becoming less efficient. According to the Department of Energy, one of the most cost-effective ways to cut heating and cooling costs is to add attic insulation.

Your Fireplace

• If you use a fireplace frequently or heat with wood, have a trained chimney sweep check your chimney or stovepipe for creosote buildup and for birds' nests or other flammable debris.
• Before using your fireplace or any appliance with an open flame, check to make sure your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working and have fresh batteries. Carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless poisonous gas, is a product of incomplete combustion and can be produced by woodstoves and kerosene heaters — and faulty natural gas appliances.
• Close the fireplace damper when not in use.

On the Outside

• Clean gutters. Leaving your gutters full of leaves and debris can damage the wood around your eaves.
• Clean debris off the roof and check for any roof damage. Be sure to clean debris around your heating and air system as well. Leaves and vegetation will impact your HVAC unit's performance.
• Rake and compost leaves and garden debris.
• Add a gasoline stabilizer or drain the gasoline from lawnmowers, string trimmers and other gasoline engines that won't be used for months.

The more steps you take to improve your heating system, the better your chances of staying safe and warm this winter.