Money Saving Home Winterization Tips

There is no getting around it.  If your home is in a cold climate, keeping it warm in the winter is expensive.  The Department of Energy predicts that prices for natural gas and heating oil will rise again this winter compared with last – and that is even after the sharp rise in prices last year.

he quickest, cheapest, yet still effective solution for windows you don’t need to look beautiful is the bubble wrap application. You’ll only need water and a spray bottle to affix the fun-to-pop stuff to a window. When applying the bubble wrap, spray the window with the water and press the ‘bubble’ side to the window pain. The bubble wrap still lets light through, and it’s surprisingly good at putting hundreds of little pockets of air between your warm room and the cold window surface.rise again this winter compared with last – and that is even after the sharp rise in prices last year.

Draft dodgers are great for that space between your doors and the floor.  Be sure to use draft dodgers for any interior or exterior doors that have gaps. Draft dodgers are cloth or insulation stoppers that fit the space under a door, but still allow the door to open with relative ease.  Draft dodgers run about $15, are easily adjustable for most any door, and are machine-washable too. Visithttp://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/brica-reg-door-draft-dodger-topography/1040811888 to learn more.

Get a programmable thermostat. If you have to pick one upgrade to pitch to your landlord, or your significant other, this is the one. A slightly smart, electronic thermostat with good programming evens out the heating demands of your big empty spaces. Be sure to purchase one with memory and allows for overrides without deleting the default settings.  We purchased one and we set our temp about 60 degrees at 4 pm and then 65 at 6 pm and drop to 57 about 9 pm. For those cool mornings, we set about 64 degrees at 7 am and back to 57 about 9 am. If my wife or I want it warmer sooner, we can crank it up, but our thermostat returns to default mode thereafter.

If your attic is not insulated – there is no time like the present. A properly insulated attic can save you about 10-50% off your heating bill. And remember that insulated attics work the opposite way for hotter days. In summer, it helps stabilize your homes indoor temps to keep cooling costs at bay.

For optimal efficiency furnaces and heating units should be professionally cleaned and filters replaced annually. Adding this task to your home winterization to-do list is a good idea. Not only will the furnace run more cleanly and effectively, but clean units will save you money as well.

If you find your home is extremely hard to heat and winterizing is too demanding a task, or if your winterizing efforts are having little effect on the large picture of maintaining efficiency and saving energy dollars, consider hiring a professional to upgrade your home. It may be time to replace windows and doors with more energy efficient, insulating models. Similarly, having added or new insulation installed along exterior walls and roofs, and possibly re-siding your house may cost you surprisingly little in the long run as opposed to continually heating an inefficient home that is not able to hold the warm air. Technology has produced many new products and techniques that are minimally invasive and can be quickly applied, such as exterior insulations that can be blown in without ripping into a house’s walls

Here is to a cozy winter!