As the winter temperatures continue to drop, homeowners instinctually crank up their thermostats to keep their homes toasty and warm during the chilly months ahead. Unfortunately, if your home is not properly weatherized, you could be throwing away money as the heat produced by your heating system escapes throughout holes, cracks, and gaps in your home. Here are some ways that home weatherization works to save you a substantial amount of money and energy.
The best and simplest way to weatherize your home is to caulk and weather-strip your home. In order to caulk your home properly, you should inspect the area around your windows and doors. Look for any gaps or holes that may have developed with time. These may be allowing cold air in or warm air out so they need to be sealed effectively. To do this, you should first clean the area with water and a cloth to remove any dust, dirt or debris as well as any chipped paint. Next, apply your indoor caulk. You can purchase this at any home and garden store or even at the grocery store! Apply a coat so that it filled the hole. Then smooth with your finger to ensure it is evenly distributed. You can then even the area with a straight edge so that it is flush with the wall. You can also fill any cracks you see on the outside of your home with a waterproof or outdoor specific caulk. To go a step further, you can caulk in your basement as well to ensure the foundation of your home is solid and efficient.
If you want to add weather-stripping to your home, you can first inspect the area to see if it is needed. For a door, try sliding a piece of paper underneath. If the paper slides through, the gap between the floor and your door is too large and so weather-stripping is necessary. Another way to check is to have a friend stand on one side of the door, while you stand on the other. Turn lights off and then shine a flashlight underneath the door. If your friend can see the light from the other side, you need to add weather-stripping or a door sweep. There are various types of weather-stripping that you can apply such as an adhesive or screw on types. Decide which is right for your needs.
Weatherizing your home in these ways, by either caulking or adding weather-stripping can reduce your energy bills by an average of 32% each year for tremendous savings! Typically homeowners will save around $400 each year. Taking the time to weatherize will help to keep your home more comfortable in both the winter and the summer months so that your heating or cooling systems will not need to overwork to maintain a comfortable and desirable temperature. Your home will be much more efficient, reducing energy waste and keeping the comfortable air inside where it belongs. Also, weatherizing will help to keep your home evenly comfortable, so that some rooms are not super cold while others are warm.
Clearly, weather-stripping and caulking can work to keep your home comfortable but more important to save you a significant amount of money on your energy bills each month. These two home improvement techniques are effective and easy to do, so you can enjoy the results and savings as soon as possible. While buying correctly sized heat pumps may be a job for the professionals, this is a DIY project you can do in a weekend to save you money by keeping comfortable air in, and outdoor air outside where it should stay!
