Virginia will hold a sales tax holiday Friday to Oct. 13 to encourage residents to buy energy-efficient appliances.
During this period, purchases of appliances and products meeting the Energy Star and WaterSense qualifications will be exempt from the Virginia sales tax.
Eligible products must be $2,500 or less per item and purchased for noncommercial home or personal use.
To help people save even more money, the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants offers additional cost-cutting strategies to help conserve energy and lower heating bills without sacrificing comfort.
Watch your thermostat
Lower the temperature iof your home when you're out during the day and at night. That simple step can make a significant dent in your expenses. Do this yourself, or install a programmable thermostat, which you can set to raise and lower the temperature.
Put your curtains to work
Opening your curtains during the daylight hours lets sunlight in to warm your house.
When you close them at night, you conserve the warmth that natural light and your home's heating elements have supplied during the day.
Plug those leaks
Some of the greatest heat losses in older homes are due to undiscovered air leaks.
The gaps around windows and doors, for example, allow heat to escape and cold air to seep in.
Caulk and weather-stripping or storm windows can solve the problems.
Keep it covered
By installing proper insulation, you can prevent heat from rising up to the top floor and seeping out through a leaky attic.
In addition, covering your water heater with an insulating "jacket" will keep the warmth inside the heater.
It's also a good idea to wrap exposed water pipes.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
