Fuming About Your Heating Bill? Prevent Home Leaks This Winter!
With the frigid temps forecasted for the next week and half, we wanted to give you tips on ways to plug energy-robbing gaps in your home. Did you know that a typical family spends roughly 1/3 of its annual heating budget on air that leaks out of your home through unintended gaps & cracks? We want you to enjoy this holiday season instead of piling on the blankets and fuming about your outrageous heating bill. Below are some quick fixes to keep that warm air in.
Inspect your dryer vent
During your search and destroy mission, if you have a dryer vent that still resembles the models from the 1940’s, it insulates poorly and can fail to close properly if it is clogged by lint. Even though this is a necessity for drying your clothes when it’s on, it also likes to drain the heat from your home. Consider switching out your dryer vent to a plastic one that uses a floating shuttle to stop airflow.
Weather-strip doors
Your doors are gigantic holes that are cut into the exterior walls of your home and therefore can become problematic when it comes to air escaping. By purchasing weather-stripping for your doors to improve the seal, you will be saving on your pocketbook.
Your fireplace is a money losing pit
Consider this! If you have an unused fireplace with an open damper, your heating bill can increase as much as 30%…what?! It’s true! Your chimney is designed to carry heat upward and outward of your home. Stop the loss of air by installing an inflatable draft stopper when you are not enjoying your fireplace.
Your windows
Could you possibly have a window in your home that is open maybe even just a crack? If so, it is just like having that window wide open. Make sure to caulk your windows and put on your storm windows which will give you better insulation. If you have a lot of single pane windows in your home, you would benefit immensely from installing new energy efficient triple pane windows, saving you a lot of money in the long run.
Turn down the heat when you’re at work
Do you have your thermostat set to cooler temps while you are at work during the day? If not, your furnace struggles all day to keep up heating your home when you are not even there. If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, put it on your Christmas list and start saving on your heating bill once you have it installed.
