Save Energy in Your Home This Winter

When you check your calendar and see October on the page, you know winter is just around the corner. Winter brings lots of fun things like skiing or shoe shoeing on bright clear days or quiet family evenings in front of the fire. Unfortunately, winter also brings some “not so nice things” like cold weather and long dark nights that take lots of electrical and heat energy to get through comfortably. If you would like to save some energy around your home this winter, here are some ideas for you.

Check the “big” things first, furnace, doors, windows and insulation

• One sure way to save energy is to be sure your home heating system is working properly. Have a qualified HVAC professional check your furnace to be sure it’s working properly and as energy efficiently as possible.
• Check to see the caulking and weather stripping around your doors and windows is intact and doesn’t have any gaps or openings. Even a small draft around a window or door can let lots of expensive warm air escape from your home.
• Adding some extra insulation to your attic is relatively inexpensive, easy to do and will greatly reduce the cost of heating your home.
  

After doing the “big” things. There are lots of little things that added together will save you significant energy this winter.

• Cover the inside of your windows with clear plastic film window coverings (available at home and hardware stores). They  will act like a second window and provide a barrier to keep heat in and block out any cold coming through the window glass.
• Adjust your programmable thermostat so the temperature in your home is reduced at night and/or during the day if no one is in the house. 
• Close the damper on your fireplace so hot air doesn’t escape up the chimney. You can save even more energy by blocking off the opening with glass doors or even a installing a piece of decorated plywood sized to cover the opening.
• Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans so they will pull air down from up close to your ceiling. Since hot air rises, the air at your ceiling is going to be warmer than at floor level.
• Change your incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL’s) that use as little as 20% of the energy an old style incandescent bulb and has the added benefit of lasting up to five time longer.
• During the winter keep the humidity level in your home in the range of 40%. Humidity levels lower than 40% will make you feel cool and you'll be tempted to turn up the furnace. You can increase the humidity level in your home with a humidifier or you can take advantage of the humidity you create daily in daily living. For example, don’t turn on the exhaust fan when showering or cooking so the steam from the hot water will stay inside.
  

Murray Anderson is a veteran freelancer whose work has been appeared in books, newspapers and newsletters as well as on numerous web sites in both the United States and Canada. He writes on a wide range of topics including home, consumer, and personal subjects as well as general business and Marketing specific topics.