The best time to weatherize your home for winter is before the winds start to blow and the thermometer drops. But even if you’re late to the game, there are still home weatherizing steps you can take to help lower your energy costs and while making your home warmer. Even small steps can help make a big difference on your monthly energy bills.
Thinking of where to start and how to weatherize your home for winter can be daunting. Here are five easy tips to help you start lowering your energy costs and surely your home will be cozier when the mercury drops.
Inspect Your Home’s Exterior
Clogged gutters are the main reason for ice dams build up. Ice dams are those sheets of floating ice that form on your roof if the gutter doesn’t properly drain. The warm air in your house leaks into the attic, which warms the roof and causes the ice and snow to melt.
The ice lies beneath the snow to the gutter, where it refreezes instead of being drained. That causes the ice buildup, which can create water spots inside your home. This problem can be solved by sealing your home air leaks
Programmable Thermostats
Thermostats are one example of easy home weatherizing tips that can make your HVAC system operate more efficiently. Why heat a home — or cool it for that matter — at the same temperature when no one is in it? Programmable thermostats are easy to install and ENERGY STAR estimates you can save as much as 10% on heating and cooling costs by properly using one. The critical piece is actually using the thermostat once you have it.
Ceiling Fan
It is a very important tool in your home weatherizing to make sure your fan rotates the correct way. Many only think of ceiling fans as a summer tool for cooling.In the winter, it can also be used to rotate air flow so that heat rising into a high ceiling is blown back down to where it can do the most good — where the people are.
Check/Replace filters
Checking filters is onEnergy star’s monthly home weatherizing tips checklist. ENERGY STAR recommends checking filters monthly and changing them every three months. A dirty air filter slows down air flow and makes a system work harder, thereby wasting energy.
Flush you Water heater
Sediment inevitably gathers inside your water heater and impedes the water flow. Flushing is an easy DIY task to weatherize your home for winter
Windows and doors top the list of culprits for air leaks and other issues that can lower the energy efficiency of your house. Paying attention to weatherizing window and doors, then, are the smartest ways you can weatherize your home for winter.