Home heating costs are on the rise, but there are ways to save | Rare Techy

Norwalk, Connecticut — Higher fuel prices mean more winter for homeowners. Nationally, families could pay up to 18 percent more to heat their homes this winter, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.

Compared to last year, heating oil is up 25% and natural gas is up 31%, costing homeowners hundreds more.

Lorenzo Wyatt, owner of Home Comfort Practice, teaches people how to lower their energy costs, defying supply and demand.

“You have a global market for energy, for oil, for natural gas, and then those prices go up because of uncertainty,” Wyatt said.

Drew Todd paid $2 for a gallon of oil to heat his home in Norwalk, Connecticut. Due to the price increase, the cost of filling his one hundred gallon tank has gone up.

“It’s about seven dollars, I think,” Todd said, adding that he couldn’t afford it and had to rely on “coats” and “extra blankets” if it got really cold. this winter.

After losing his job in March, he applied for a government grant to pay his electricity bill.

“We will continue to do our best to preserve as much as possible,” he said. “We don’t have a monopoly, we do what we can.”

Wyatt advises setting the temperature to 68 degrees, closing the firewall, removing window vents and closing the curtains.

“You want to keep the heat inside,” Wyatt said. “So insulate the ceiling because the heat rises. Insulate your walls, fill the wall holes with insulation.”

Todd hopes some of these small fixes will keep his family warm and his wallet full this winter.