Keeping your body warm in winters can be tricky and expensive if you don’t do it properly. Most homeowners have made heating mistakes and caused more bills, pain or the failure of their heating system.

Here are the top home heating errors and what to do to avoid them.

Too Exhaustive on the Thermostat

The Sin: If you are feeling cold, sometimes we go all-out on the thermostat so it warms up our house quickly.

But this is not working as it should. The majority of heating systems offer the same amount of heat no matter what the thermostat setting, which is unnecessarily energy intensive and could overheat the house.

How To Avoid It: Have your thermostat set to a comfortable medium temperature. The Department of Energy advises 68°F during the day when you’re at home and 66°F at night or away. Consider a programmable or smart thermostat that will keep your home at regular temperature.

Neglecting Air Filter Maintenance

The Lie: It is all too easy to forget to replace or clean the furnace air filter and it can cause reduced airflow, wasted heating and a higher demand on your furnace. This can mean a higher energy consumption and eventually a system failure.

How To Avoid It: Change your air filters every month especially in peak times such as winter. Filter with new filter or clean old one on a 3 to 5 month basis. Filter clean – For maximum flow and performance.

Blocking Air Vents and Registers

A carpet, drapery or rug may hang over air vents and registers and block the entrance to rooms with hot air. That results in uneven heating and a tired system trying to keep the temperature constant.

How to Avoid It: Make sure your vents are checked frequently and aren’t clogged with debris. Move furniture around as needed to make room for airflow in your house.

Using Space Heaters Incorrectly

The Tip: Spending a great deal of time and money on space heaters, or doing so improperly, can be inefficient, costly, and even dangerous. Space heaters consume a lot of energy and can cause a fire if left on in an unoccupied condition or too close to flammable items.

To Avoid It: Keep space heaters to small spaces that require temporary heat only. Don’t keep them near hot objects, always refer to the manufacturer’s instructions, and never leave a space heater on.

Not Using Ceiling Fans Properly

The Admonishment: No one thinks to use ceiling fans for cooling air in winters. It gets hot — air is always warmer towards the ceiling so the floor of a room is cooler.

How to Prevent It: Turn your ceiling fan backwards during the winter in order to make an updraft. Turning the fan clockwise on low brings cool air to the bottom of the fan, dissipating heat evenly across the room.

Leaving Windows and Doors Drafty

The Thing: Cold air gets through the windows and doors to your home, which makes it harder for your furnace to heat your home. That is not only an energy waster, but it also means more expensive heating.

How to Avoid It: Apply weather stripping or caulking to windows and doors to close gaps and seal drafts. Even thick curtains or draft protectors keep warm air inside.

Ignoring Furnace Maintenance

If you don’t get your furnace checked on a regular basis, it will lose its efficiency, run you more money and break down all over the place. Inattentive systems can be dangers, too, such as carbon monoxide leaks.

How to Avoid It: Get professional furnace or heating system inspections done every year. Engineers can check, degrease and make sure that all is well, so problems can be solved before they get serious.

Closing Vents in Unused Rooms

Many assume vent-closing in unattended rooms saves money by putting the heat away. It is actually counterproductive and it will overheat your heater and force it to work harder, possibly leaking or causing duct damage.

What to Do To Avoid It: Keep vents open to help circulation around your house. If you are concerned about saving money on your energy bills, get a zoned heating system for more exact area control.

Not Using a Humidifier

Heating in the winters makes indoor air dry. This can cause flaky skin, coughs, and the home seems colder than it actually is.

How to Prevent It: Make your air wet with a humidifier. If you have the humidity, your home will be warmer and you can set the thermostat low to save money on heating.

Heating an Empty Home

Enable the heat to blare full blast when nobody’s home — this uses energy and costs you money in the long run.

How to Prevent It: Get a programmable thermostat so you can set the temperature remotely while you’re not home or asleep. Most of today’s thermostats are remotely operated, so you can control the heat on your way home.

Neglecting Insulation

The Error: Bad insulation in your walls, attic and crawl spaces could be leaking air, which will strain your furnace to keep you comfortable.

How to Avoid It: Insulate important areas of your house to avoid heat loss. -Insulation of attic, walls and crawlspaces, along with insulated window coverings, are ways to make your home even more energy efficient.

Not Using Curtains Strategically

If you don’t make curtains work for you, you’re missing out on the opportunity for passive heat – from daylight in the day and warmth at night.

How To Avoid It: Open curtains during the day so the sun will naturally heat your house – particularly if it is on the south side of the windows. During the night, lock them so they are insulated from the elements.

Heating the Garage

Heating an uninsulated garage is an energy hog and can raise your utility bill. Your garage doesn’t need to be as hot as the rest of the house if it’s not a living room.

What to Do to Prevent It: Close all gaps in the garage door, and if you need heat in the garage for an occasional task, put a portable space heater in place for a while instead of hooking it up to your central heating system.