Lower your home energy bills without forfeiting comfort in preparation for long winter months. The following tips can help reduce your heating bill by about 20 percent, using available materials that are inexpensive to buy and install.
Worn out weather stripping around doors and windows produces drafts and welcomes cold air in. About 12 % of home’s heat loss happens around windows and doors. These leaks often prompt homeowners to turn up their furnaces to keep warm, consequently wasting extra energy on heating their homes.
Look under your front door – if daylight under it is seen, it means that you’re letting the indoor air out and you have paid to heat it! Adjust your door thresholds in such a way that the air wouldn’t seep out from under it.
Electrical boxes in exterior walls are drafty because they are not insulated correctly in most cases.
Remove the cover plates and fill gaps around the electrical boxes with acrylic latex caulk. For larger gaps, use foam sealant. Then place a foam gasket over the outlet or switch and replace the cover plate.
Windows account for 25 % of heat loss at homes. Covering the windows and sliding patio doors with clear plastic film can diminish that loss up to 14%.
In case if there is a fireplace at your household and you do not use it for some reason, your warm air escapes through the chimney as well. An easy solution would be to block the airflow with an inflatable chimney balloon. The balloons are available on different retailer websites and cost approximately $50.
The attic access door may not be properly insulated even in isolated attics, allowing warm air out through the attic hatch. To ensure that the door obstructs airflow, use adhesive to attach fiberglass batt insulation to the attic side of the door. And if the door won’t lie flat, use a latch bolt system to close it tight.
These thermostats now cost about $25, but they considerably save you money if you program the thermostat to keep the temperature low during the day when no one is at home and during night sleep, but higher at the times when you decide – in the morning or when you want to come back to a cozy and warm home.
If you have applied the mentioned solutions to save on your heating bills and you do not see adequate results, maybe it is time to check your heating system for malfunction or have it undergo proper maintenance. Orange Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning experts offer maintenance and repair services on all types and models of heating systems, so contact us today!
Orange County, Tustin, 92780 | (714) 400-2913
