by the Professional Power Tool Guide
Uh-oh. Winter’s coming. You know what that means, don’t you? High heating bills. Constant firewood gathering. Negative temperatures…the list goes on and on. The fact is that we can’t stop the frost from coming. It works on its own schedule. What we can do is get our house ready for winter by making it a little more energy efficient. By making your home more efficient for winter, you can drastically reduce a lot of the high bills associated with that time of year. Here are some quick tips that can help your budget in chilly times.
The first thing you have to consider when making your home more efficient for winter is if there are any leaks around the house. Caulk around your window sills as that is where most of the cracks will come into play. Weatherstrip around door frames to make sure nothing seeps in there. Seal your energy vents too and check your heating ducts for possible leaks. Get as much of your house sealed up as possible to keep your heat inside.
You need to check the efficiency of the actual heating system when making your home more efficient for winter. Every fall, call in an HVAC specialist for a routine examination. Take the time to stockpile some filters and change them out once a month during the winter. If you have a really old heating system, an upgrade may not be a bad investment. It may cost you some money initially, but the units nowadays run so well that they’ll pay for themselves in just a few years. Then to conserve energy all around, install and use a set-back thermostat that will prevent the heater from running high when you’re away for the day or sleeping. This setting will kick temperatures back up to warmth only when you need them.
Since the winter requires more time spent inside the house based on the weather, you may need to think about replacing the light bulbs for making your home more efficient. Chances are you’re going to be in a lot, so buying new light bulbs can cut the amount of energy used and the amount of replacements you have to buy. Light bulbs are cheap anyway, so it shouldn’t be much of a budget-buster. While you’re up there changing the bulb on the ceiling fan, reverse it to move the air up instead of down. This will circulate the air better and could actually make the room up to four degrees warmer.
