[simage=1108,320,n,center]

With the Holiday Season also comes the season of higher energy bills. Justin Foss with Alliant Energy gave us some tips for how to keep your energy costs down this winter. He says Christmas lights don’t take a lot of energy to run, but you can cut that energy down by using LED lights. He says as an added bonus, those lights will last a lot longer than standard Christmas lights, so you won’t have to spend so much time replacing bulbs every year. He says as far as heating goes, the best way to reduce energy costs is to add insulation to your house. If you can’t do that, another way is to check for drafts around windows and doors. Eliminating these will keep your house warmer for less money. He also recommends turning down your thermostat when you are not home. He gets a lot of people who think it takes more energy to re-heat a home after the heat has been turned off than it does to leave the heat on all day.If you’re going to be gone for more than four hours it is cheaper to turn down the heat. The simplest way to keep heat costs down is to dress warmer when home. Wearing a sweatshirt and turning the heat down can save more money than you would think. He tells us that Alliant Energy will visit their customers homes to help them find solutions for heating efficiency.