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Poor insulation, and leaking windows and doors can cause 75% percent heat loss in a poorly constructed home. When cold or hot weather approaches we need to inspect our homes and make repairs or upgrades to prevent cold air infiltration and hot air conduction. Not only will this save money on heating and cooling bills, but it will make you more comfortable and keep out pests. Here is what you can do to your home to preserve your on your energy bills.
Sometime during the month of September it is a good idea to weatherize your home if you live in a cold location. During the spring you should weatherize your home if you live in the desert. Weatherproofing can be done a little bit at a time, during weekend projects to get ready for severe weather. To begin with you should evaluate the energy efficiency of your home. Go through the house and check for drafts. Crouch near each window and door and hold a candle or a lit match near the jams on a windy day. If the flame is blown out there is an air leak that needs to be sealed. You should also place a thermometer in different parts of the house to see if it is colder under the windows or near the doors. If there is a 2 degree temperature difference under the window compared to the rest of the room, the insulation could be poor. Another problem could be an air flow problem with your heating/ cooling system. You can talk to your public utilities company for information on how to correct the problem or they can refer you to someone who can help.
Weatherproofing your windows and doors should be one of the first projects you should do because the most energy is lost through them. Inspect all your windows for air leaks. Caulk or apply weather-stripping around all windows. You can apply a peelable caulking around windows that you won’t be opening for the entire winter to seal them entirely off from small drafts. Hanging storm windows is also an important project when preparing for winter. Dual paned windows can be installed throughout the house for increased energy conservation; studies indicate as much as a 60 percent savings on heating and cooling bills will be achieved. Installing new windows is an expensive project that takes more than a weekend to accomplish. To make a home made dual pane window you can apply plastic sheeting to the outside, or inside, of an entire window. There are kits specifically made for this purpose; they are a temporary fix for a drafty window that you will take down in the spring. In the basement cover window wells with preformed window well covers to increase their insulation.
Other areas of the house to apply caulk and weather-stripping are: around dryer vents, exhaust vents and fans. Any other fitting that comes from the inside of your house and protrudes to the outside should be sealed tight, for example; water spigots, TV, telephone and cable jacks. If the hole is very large squirt in some expanding foam insulation. Check the baseboards of your home for old cracked caulking. Scrape it off, if necessary, and reapply a new bead.
To prepare your doors for winter you must first make sure the door is in perfect alignment. Sometimes over use it will fall out of alignment and there will be a small gap on one side or the other. Even out the gaps on either side by resetting and shimming the hinges. Once this is done you can seal all of the remaining gaps. Add reinforced felt seal stripping around the exterior of the door. Replace an old worn out bristle sweep with a new one on the bottom of the door. Replace a threshold that may be worn out or broken. To weatherproof sliding glass doors use rubber compression strips to seal the channels.
You can also apply a sliding glass door insulating kit to the interior of the door. This kit is a plastic sheeting that you apply around the glass to thicken it and prevent heat loss through the door.
Installing fiberglass insulation in the attic or any unfinished walls in the basement will increase your home’s energy savings. The project is easy and quick. If your attic already has blown insulation a fiberglass attic blanket will increase the energy savings even more. When installing fiberglass insulation wear a face mask to protect your lungs from airborne glass particles. Wear protective eyewear such as goggles and long sleeves, pants and gloves to protect your skin from cuts. Apply sheets of fiberglass insulation between the wooden joists, staple gun it into place. Either install chickenwire, drywall or paneling to keep the insulation against the wall.
When building or purchasing a home look for energy saving construction. A house should be designed to trap the heat of the sun in a greenhouse effect. A home that is built from concrete will hold more heat than a home built with bricks. Using the highest rated insulation in a frame home will save money over the life of the home. Thick adobe walls hold the most heat in the house. The house should be situated length wise on an east west axis. To collect the sun’s energy the house should have the most windows on the south walls and a minimum amount of windows on the north walls. The windows on the north side of the house should have a moveable source of insulation for the winter. A series of skylights on the south portion of a roof can also let in the sun’s heat.
Weatherizing your home can cut your home’s energy costs by as much as 60 percent. Most of the above ideas to prepare your home for cold or hot weather are inexpensive and the cost of them will be recouped in utility savings quickly. When you do your part to reduce energy usage you will be helping the environment and helping your self as well.
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