I spent one winter with the thermostat at 72 and my heating bill at a number I do not want to repeat. Then I realized I was trying to heat the whole neighborhood. The house was leaking warm air everywhere, and no thermostat setting can fix a leak.

You can keep a house noticeably warmer for almost no money by fixing the leaks and moving the heat you already have.

Find the drafts and block them

On a cold day, run your hand along window frames, door edges, and baseboards. You will feel the cold air coming in. Weather stripping on doors costs a few dollars and takes ten minutes. A rolled-up towel at the bottom of a drafty door works in a pinch. My front door had a half-inch gap at the bottom, and closing it made the hallway noticeably warmer within an hour.

Reverse your ceiling fans

Most ceiling fans have a switch that changes the direction of the blades. In winter, set them to spin clockwise at low speed. That pushes warm air, which naturally collects at the ceiling, back down along the walls. It is a tiny change that makes a real difference in rooms with high ceilings.

Open curtains on the sunny side

On a sunny winter day, the sun is free heat. Open the curtains on south-facing windows during the day and let the sun warm the room. Close them again at dusk to trap the warmth inside. This is the opposite of the summer trick, and it works just as well.

Keep doors closed between rooms

Close the doors to rooms you are not using so the heat stays where you are. It sounds obvious, but most people heat the whole house and then sit in one room. Heat the room you live in. I close off the spare bedroom and the garage door all winter and my main living space stays warm at a lower thermostat setting.

Add a rug to cold floors

Hardwood and tile floors feel cold because they conduct heat away from your feet. A thick rug in the main seating area keeps your feet warm, and warm feet make the whole body feel warmer. You can set the thermostat two degrees lower and not notice the difference.

I keep my thermostat at 68 now, which sounds cold, but with the drafts blocked and the rugs down, it feels like 72 used to. The heating bill dropped by a third, and I stopped wearing a coat indoors.