A well-prepared homeowner can have a warm home and save energy at the same time. To save power all it takes is making a few changes and looking around the home to find out where the least money can be spent to save energy bills.
Cooler Homes Save Energy
A hundred years ago most people in winter climates went to bed with nightshirts and caps. Heating came from the wood stove in the kitchen and maybe one more in the parlor but none in the bedrooms. Many homeowners would wake up in the morning to find the morning sun streaming in through frosted windows and a skim of ice in the water glass on the bureau. Rooms that weren't being used were closed off by doors and avoided as gathering places.
With the advent of cheap fuel and more efficient whole-house heating systems many people in northern climates now have the odd behavior of walking around the home in T-shirts and bare feet. In fact, if they wore slippers and wore a long-sleeved shirt the thermostat could be turned down from five to ten degrees.
How to Save Energy as Heating Fuel Prices Go Up
If there is one true fact when it comes to heating fuel or electricity is that both sources of energy will never return to the prices of the past. This is because most heating comes from a petroleum-based product and these are non-renewable resource. Therefore, to save money and still live comfortably homeowners have to take matters into their own hands.
- Change the Thermostat: The old mercury-filled wall thermostats should be hanged for the digital kind as the old-style units rely on a mechanical device that is very inefficient. The new models will allow hundreds of variations of heating to be programmed into them including the ability to have cooler temperatures during the day when no one is around.
- Caulking: After a while even new homes develop leaks and cracks that not noticed unless the homeowner, or a home inspector, goes around and inspects the place. Old caulking shrinks over time leaving tiny gaps around the windows and spaces between the wooden sills and the foundations. If totaled up these spaces could be the size of a bread box, and this is a lot of wasted energy.
- Electrical Outlets and Utilities: In older homes fiberglass insulation can allow small channels of air through leaks in the exterior sheathing. This cold air finds its way to any portal on the interior walls like electrical outlets, plumbing and electrical wiring. Special insulating pads can be put on the outlets and expanding foam insulation can be sprayed into holes around the utilities.
- Doors: Old wooden doors can shrink with age so it is best to replace the weather-stripping and even put a new bottom sweeper on the door. For exterior doors facing a windy direction a storm door will save energy by deflecting the cold wind before it hits the interior door. If replacing exterior doors homeowners should look at the new fiberglass entry doors as they have great thermal qualities.
- Windows: Replacing windows on an average-sized home could cost $15,000 to $20,000, or more. If the windows are in good shape use clear plastic to cover the inside of the window. The windows are first sealed with a removable sealer and then the plastic is installed. The plastic will act as a thermal break and help prevent the cold radiation that come from older, tow-pane glass surfaces.
- Energy Saving Bulbs: Although not a factor in energy saving heat a noticeable power saving can be realized from changing your old incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs or cfl's.
By using this checklist anyone can have a warm home and save energy
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