10 Tips to Save Money This Winter – Prepare Your Home for Cold Weather

31 Oct

Posted by Braxton Haines as Save Energy, Save Money, Top 10's

With winter coming, most homeowners typically experience higher energy costs. This obviously hinges on the fact that we use more natural gas to heat our homes, and the fact that days are shorter, so we spend more time inside, and while we’re inside we’re using electricity, watching TV, surfing the internet, etc. Here are ten tips that will help you to save money on your energy costs this winter – 5 of the tips are simple, and can go a long way, the other 5 will require a bit of an investment to start, but will pay off big over time.

5 Simple Tips to Save Money on Energy

Minimize the electricity usage – grab a book! As days in the winter are shorter than days in the summer, we tend to spend more time inside. During this time, make sure that lights are only turned on in rooms that people are in, and rather than turning on the TV, or browsing the internet, grab a book.
Run ceiling fans in reverse. If you have a ceiling fan, look for a switch on the base of it and select the reverse option. Running ceiling fans in reverse will help circulate the warmer air that gathers at ceiling level back down toward your living space.
Don’t turn that heater on! Look for other ways to stay warm while inside, if you have a fireplace, start a fire. If you don’t have a fireplace, grab a blanket and cozy up on the couch, or grab a sweater.
Stop any cool air drafts. If your windows and doors aren’t properly sealed, you can be wasting tons of energy on cooling costs, as your heater pumps away, it is being directly offset by cool air leaking in from underneath doors and around poorly sealed windows. Place weather stripping or rolled up towels at the base of doors, and make sure all windows are properly caulked and sealed.
Turn down your water heater. Many water heaters are set to about 140 F by installers, try lowering this 10 degrees, if you don’t notice a difference, try lowering it 10 more. Dropping your water heater from 140 down to 120 can help save 5-10% on heating costs.

5 Timely/Costly Tips to Save Money on Energy

Install Energy Star appliances. Though costly up front, Energy Star appliances can save you from 10-20% on your energy costs.
Install storm doors and dual pane windows. Storm doors are thickly insulated and help keep cool air out and warm air in, likewise, dual pane windows will do the same thing.
Install a programmable thermostat. By installing a programmable thermostat, you can guarantee yourself that you won’t forget to turn the heater off. You can set it to 60 degrees from 8am to 6pm (while you’re at work). That way, you have a little piece of mind that you didn’t leave the heater on while you’re at the office.
Re-insulate, and/or add additional insulation in walls and attic. If you’ve done all of the above and your house still doesn’t seem to hold heat, then your house may be improperly insulated. Installing new insulation in the walls and attic can help your house retain heat and save you money on heating costs.
Seal your air ducts. Make sure that all of the ducts that deliver air from your furnace are properly sealed. Any air escaping the ducts will be lost, thus increasing your energy costs.

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One Response

Dan

November 1st, 2008 at 12:12 am
1

These are 10 great and some very simple tips to go green. if you are thinking about remodeling or doing a major update these extreme green tips from http://www.remodelormove.com are an option – but are they the best choice for you?

Extreme green home improvements are costly and our research shows that these home improvements only appeal to a specific group of buyers. So before assuming that making costly and extreme green improvements, you should do your research on the return on investment for these upgrades in your region. This research can take some of the risk out of the investment. But it is still a gamble.

Some of the extreme green improvements that you might consider are:

ï‚§ Installing photovoltaic cells to generate electricity. Everyone has heard about the merits of using solar power to generate electricity. The initial cost of installing the cells and the equipment to convert the power to electricity for use in the home can be significant. That cost will, however, be recovered over time.

ï‚§ Installing all new windows with triple glazing and UV reflective coatings. The best windows available at this time for their insulating value are triple-glazed windows with gas between the panes and the highest level UV reflective coatings. Installed throughout a home, this can be a costly upgrade. But their value will be immediately clear in comfort within the home and utility cost savings over time.

ï‚§ Switching to a solar water heating system. The cost of a solar water heating system will be higher than traditional electric or gas models. You can expect to recover the cost in water heating savings over just a few years.

ï‚§ Installing a geothermal heating and cooling system. Geothermal heating and cooling systems are very expensive to install and require a certain amount of ground space for installation. They can, however, be placed either horizontally or vertically in the ground. Because they use the constant temperature of the earth, they result in significantly lower energy bills.

ï‚§ Switch all appliances to the highest-rated energy efficiency models. The technology to build more energy-efficient appliances seems to improve almost every year. Replacing older appliances can result in less energy use and lower operating costs.

ï‚§ Install a high-efficiency metal roof. New metal roofing materials are well-insulated and extremely durable. Although the metal roof might cost a little bit more at installation, it will last far longer than shingles or shakes, and it will provide better insulation for your home.

Each of these extreme green home improvements will be costly. On the other hand, all of these improvements will result in significant savings on utility bills. Although they might not pay for themselves in a year or two, you should be able to expect to recover the cost in lower utility bills over time.

While extreme green home remodeling might not be right for every homeowner, it might be right for you. These upgrades probably will not increase the value of your home significantly in terms of resale, but they will certainly make the home more comfortable for your family and more energy efficient.