The harder your furnace system has to work, the more likely it is to break down. Unfortunately, if your home has a problem with its insulation envelope, your home can lose heat as fast or faster than your furnace can create it. Thus, if you want to keep your heating bill down, so it doesn't eat up all of your budget for the holidays, then you need to do something to make sure your home retains heat like it should. 

Start with Your Windows

The thing to remember is that the more efficiently your system runs, the less it has to work, and the less you have to worry about an untimely breakdown leaving you out in the cold. Windows are a consistent weak spot in a home's defense against the elements. While having multi-pane windows will help to insulate your home against the elements, there is more you can do. An emergency blanket is designed to reflect heat back to your body. While it wouldn't make sense to hang emergency blankets over all of your windows, you can use reflective window film to reflect heat back into your home before it even reaches your windows. The right window film can reduce your heating costs by up to 25%, which means your system has to run 25% less. 

Plant Some Trees

Another way to make sure that heat does not escape your home through your windows is to reduce the amount of wind moving over your windows. As a cold wind moves across your windows, it will absorb heat from the outside the window pane, which will then draw heat from the inside pane, thus robbing your home of heat. You can plant some trees on whichever side of your house the wind usually comes from, and the trees will create a windbreak, which will block the wind before it has a chance to rob your home of heat. A properly planted windbreak can reduce your heating costs by up to 35%. 

The above examples show how taking steps to improve your home's insulation envelope can reduce your heating costs, but the thing to remember is that the more efficient your system is, the less work it has to do, and the less it wears out. Thus, the more efficient your heating system is, the less you have to worry about your system breaking down, so you save money twice. To learn more, visit a website like http://www.coeheatcool.com.