With heating bills expected to be high this winter, shoppers will have an easier time finding holiday gifts for family and friends that will help them stay warm and save energy.

OK, buying your spouse some insulating foam for Christmas might not be tops on your list, but there are plenty of items – from flannel pajamas and electric throws to programmable thermostats – that make could help recipients lower their energy bills.

This season, J.C. Penney Co. Inc. created an area called the Hot Zone that pulls together heating mattress pads, electric blankets, electric throws and thermal drapes.

Meanwhile, home improvement retailers such as Home Depot Stores Inc. are selling energy-reducing Christmas tree lights.

“There are all kinds of products out there that many people just don’t know exist,” said Marshal Cohen, senior industry analyst at NPD Group Inc., a market research company based in Port Washington, N.Y.

Sales associate Gayle Rainbolt arranges electric blankets at a JC Penney store. This season, J.C. Penney Co. Inc. has created an area called the Hot Zone that offers items to keep customers warm so they can turn down the thermostat at home.

Cohen noted that for the holidays, he plans to get his father a solar-powered calculator, a polar fleece throw, a cast iron heating stove and a programmable thermostat.

As Candace Corlett, a principal at the retail consultancy WSL Strategic Ltd., pointed out, the issue of higher energy costs “is serious stuff that is on people’s minds. This is a worry.”

In fact, Yahoo Shopping reports that wood-burning stoves and pellet stoves, which use wood, are now among the site’s top 50 word searches.

The Energy Department expects that winter heating bills will be a third to a half higher than last year for most families across the country – an average of $350 more for natural gas users and $378 more for fuel oil users.

More than half of all U.S. households heat with natural gas. Nearly a third of the country depends on electric heat, but those homeowners may find their bills will rise, too, because many power plants run on natural gas.

Amid such worries, Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resource Defense Council in Washington, noted that shoppers should look for Energy Star-labeled products, which meet the strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Light bulbs may not make good gifts, but compact fluorescent bulbs – which use 75 percent less electricity than a conventional light bulb and last six to 10 times longer – can be a nice stocking stuffer.

New to stores this holiday season are Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Christmas tree lighting, which uses up to 90 percent less energy of regular lights. Home Depot sells six-foot LED-holiday lights for $79.98.

Another energy saver is a programmable thermostat, which can be set to accommodate any schedule. Horowitz noted that they can save consumers about $100 a year in lower utilities bills by cutting the amount of time your home’s central heating is running