Where the weather is saving homeowners lots of money

Where the weather is saving homeowners lots of moneyFabian Jimenez walks his dogs atop Tank Hill in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. California officials are bracing for the potential of another drought amid a record-breaking warm and dry February. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) A historically warm meteorological winter combined with generally cheaper costs for natural gas and heating oil have led to substantial home heating savings for United States' homeowners since Sept. 1.AccuWeather predicts those savings will continue through March as warmer-than-normal conditions persist for many parts of the country, based on the exclusive AccuWeather 90-day forecast, which is available at AccuWeather.com (search your city to view the monthly outlook). You can also keep apprised of your forecast on the free AccuWeather app.The higher temperatures resulted in less snow in a number of cities, with Philadelphia, Atlantic City, and Wilmington, Delaware, all recording their second least-snowy winters. "With temperatures being well above average for most of February, any precipitation that fell was largely in the form of rain," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyson Hoegg. "When it did get cold enough for snow, there was little to no precipitation."As a result of the warm meteorological winter, there have been significantly lower heating costs in many cities compared to normal and compared to the last heating season. In some cases, the savings are greater than 10 percent -- and even more considering some types of fuel, like heating oil, are cheaper than last year.Residents in the following cities particularly will benefit based on the percentage change in savings from Sept. 1, 2018, to May 27, 2019, compared to Sept. 1, 2019, to May 27, 2020, based AccuWeather's 90-day forecast. There are also cost savings when comparing 2019-20 to each city's long-term average temperatures.In general, natural gas and heating oil is about three percent cheaper this year, so that percentage can be added to AccuWeather's estimates. So if the weather led to a seven percent difference, then the savings figure would be 10 percent, meaning if heating costs were $1,500 last year then a homeowner would have paid $150 less this year. (See highlights here and farther below, as well as the 12-city breakdown in the slideshow.)Estimated home heating costs on the ⬇️ for the following cities in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19 from 9/1-5/27, based on AccuWeather's 90-day forecast. All of the percentages for this story assume no change in heating-related costs year-over-year; since most energy prices are lower than last year, most people will experience even greater savings in their heating costs.     Kansas City: ⬇️ 14.2 percent Dallas: ⬇️ 13.7 percent Chicago: ⬇️ 11.1 percent Los Angeles: ⬇️ 11.1 percent Cincinnati: ⬇️ 10.3 percentA break in the warm pattern does not appear likely soon for much of the contiguous U.S., according to AccuWeather meteorologists. The heating season runs from Sept. 1 through the following April or May. The actual costs of electricity and fuel vary from year to year and from place to place, so the percentage change in consumers' bills may vary from these percentages, which assume other heating-related costs are largely unchanged year-over-year.Estimated home heating costs on the ⬇️ for the following cities in 2019-20 compared to the long-term average temperatures from 9/1-5/27, based on AccuWeather's 90-day forecast.Los Angeles: ⬇️ 29.9 percent Washington, D.C.: ⬇️ 16.8 percent San Francisco: ⬇️ 16.5 percent Boston: ⬇️ 13.7 percent Cincinnati: ⬇️ 13.4 percentHomeowners can help to keep heating costs lower in a number of ways. They can replace worn weather strips and check to make sure that heating equipment is well maintained to curb costs. Upgrading a home's insulation can lead to significant savings on energy costs as well.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.