10 Things You Can Do To Stay Warm in Your Home without Breaking the Bank
December 1, 2009
There are several things you can do in your home to stay warm and cut back on your heating bills. Making some minor repairs and a few simple adjustments can save you quite a bit of money on your heating and cooling bills. So let’s get started!
1. Replace the Glass – Reduce the amount of draft coming through your windows by replacing any cracked or broken panes.
2. Doors – Repair or replace the weather stripping wherever you feel cool air coming through the perimeter of an exterior door opening.
3. Outlets and Switches – Purchase and Install outlet and switch insulators, also called gaskets, between the cover plates and the boxes. Doing this will help to minimize the draft in wall cavities.
4. Exterior Penetrations – Check the outside perimeter walls of your home and seal penetrations that may have been old or improperly sealed.
5. Drapes - Installing drapes over poorly insulated windows will help to reduce drafts.
6. Air filters – Check the filters in your heating system. A clean filter will improve the efficiency in your unit and save you money. Changing them monthly will save you on energy usage.
7. Remove obstructions – Make sure the area in front of any heating baseboard is clear. This will allow for the warm air to flow better.
8. Adjust Baseboard Fins and Registers – Ensure that the fins of all heating baseboard are in the open position. Partially open fins will restrict proper flow and cost you in the long run. Registers that provide warm air into the room can be adjusted for optimum air and direction. The damper adjustments are easily located on the face of the register
9. Exhaust Fans – Limit the use of exhaust fans and shut them immediately following the need to use them. Leaving them on will remove the heat from your home.
10. Look Up – Since hot air rises, weather-strip the area around the attic hatch and replace any insulation voids in your attic.
Checking and making these adjustments to your home will not only save you money on your heating bills, but will save you on service calls for your heater, as well.
