As winter approaches and temperatures drop it is easy to fall into past ways of heating your home, even if they can cost you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in energy bills a few months down the track. Warming your home will never be free but there are ways you can manage the heating of a house to reduce the amount you spend on heating bills.

One of the most significant changes you can make in a heating a house is to contract your areas of living so that you heat only those areas that you frequent most during the day. So for example, if you have a house with a number of different living areas, set up your heating system so that you are only heating the rooms that you will be living in.

By having a number of small heaters within the house you can close doors and create finite areas of warmth and reduce the chance of warm air escaping. Small heaters are available in a number of styles and sizes. Oil heaters and gas heaters are an option but if you are thinking green then using an electric heater and signing on to your energy company's green energy program is a wise choice.

Wall heaters, free standing heaters and fireplace inserts are all options when considering electric heating. You can even get electric heaters that look exactly like a wood burning fire if you miss the ambience of a real glowing, flickering fire. If you choose the right model it is hard to tell the difference between these electric heaters and the real thing. Electric fireplaces can be freestanding, attached to a wall or placed inside a pre-existing alcove or disused fireplace.

If you plug a small electric heater into your room you can turn it on and off independently form other heaters, ensuring that you can heat rooms only when they are in use. So kitchen heaters can be on during the day and off at night, while bedroom heaters can be switched on only when night falls.

By moving away from one large heating system towards a number of smaller heaters, you can manage the heat in your house more efficiently and reduce your winter heating bill.