Weather-stripping can be the key to saving money. In the winter and summer, making sure that the air inside your home stays in and the outside air doesn’t get in, is crucial to maintaining the temperature inside your home. Keeping an even temperature will allow you to save money on your monthly energy bill. Saving on your energy bill also means conserving energy for the environment, which can be important, especially with the rise of global warming. When it comes down to it, global warming is a serious problem and even taking small steps to winterize and weather-strip your home can have a meaningful impact. Here are five weather-stripping tips to help home owners save money.
Seal energy and air leaks in your basement. Your basement can be full of these energy leaks, which usually happen when the foundation shifts. The energy leaks wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t suck precious energy out of your home. By not sealing up these leaks, you will notice higher than usual energy bills. All you need to seal these leaks is an epoxy resin. If you have concrete slabs for a foundation, you may need to mix a little concrete to get the job done.
Make sure that there are no major leaks in your vents, outlets or any other channels that connect to the outdoors. Many people go to weatherize and weather strip their home – only to find out that their bill is still higher than usual. If you really want to save money, you want to make sure that the culprit is not your outlets. All you need to do is put your hand over the outlets to determine if an outlet is, indeed, an energy leak. One solution to this problem is to get an outlet cap. You may find that you also need to get someone like this Derry electrical repairs company to come out and repair a few things in order to increase safety and efficiency, if you have reason to believe there is an issue with the outlet.
Hire a professional HVAC technician. An HVAC technician will be able to let you know if you have any major energy leaks. In the meantime, though, a technician will be able to let you know if your HVAC unit needs a tune-up. You may even want to invest in a programmable thermostat, which can further save you money. A programmable thermostat will be able to regulate your temperatures automatically, so that you don’t have to worry about your energy bill being sky high.
Place weather-strips under doors. The doors to your home may also let something else in: outside air. When you are trying to warm or cool your home, outside air can be a bad thing, because it can make it harder to get your home to the desired temperature. So, you want to make sure that when your doors are closed, outside air can’t get in. Installing weather-strips can be a great solution.
Seal windows and door frames. Your windows and door frames could have a series of energy leaks – energy leaks you can’t see. The best method for finding these leaks is to hold your hand over the door frame or window frame. If you feel cool or warm air – you have a leak. With a little caulking, you should be able to seal those leaks, which will ultimately save you more money on your energy bill
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One of the great joys of renting in NYC is not having to deal with these things. They are required to pay for the heat 🙂
Simple leaks can sap home energy efficiency by 5% to 30% a year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That means it pays to seal up gaps with caulking and weatherstripping.
More than any other time of year, you notice your home’s air leaks in the winter. Most people call these air leaks “drafts.” You may feel these drafts around windows and doors and think these leaks are your major source of wasted energy. In most homes, however, the most significant air leaks are hidden in the attic and basement. These are the leaks that significantly raise your energy bill and make your house uncomfortable.