A. You can close some vents in unused areas of the home but be aware that your insulation is the exterior walls, if you let the room get too warm or cool you will still need to overcome that in the adjoining rooms. Closing off too many vents may also cause issues with the furnace or air conditioner.

A. Programmable thermostats can save you money if you use them properly. Typically with a gas furnace if you program in a setback of 5 degrees when you are at work and while you are sleeping you will use less energy in the month.  With a Heat Pump you would need a special thermostat that would not bring on the electric backup heat when coming out of setback or you would use what you just saved to get the house back to temperature. In summer, avoid increasing the temperature for work and sleep times during extreme weather because the AC will take a long time to get back to your ideal comfort conditions.