Why Not Weatherize Your Home For Energy Efficiency?
Weatherization is the process of sealing and fine-tuning your home and appliances to conserve potentially large amounts of energy
. Drafty windows and doors need to be sealed. Locate tiny holes and fill them. Do everything possible to keep outside air outside and keep inside air inside. Effective home weatherization can put a big, happy dent in your heating and cooling bills.
The U.S. Department of Energy has been offering home weatherization assistance for over thirty years. The DOE helps low income families permanantly reduce their utility bills through home weatherization. President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has added millions and millions of dollars to this effort. If your home is not weatherized, the time to take care of it has arrived. You've got nothing to lose and money to save.
Basic facts.
The average insulated home contains small leaks between building materials that add up to a permanent 14 inch square hole in the home. These tiny gaps, in addition to leaking energy out of the house, can cause water damage and create paths for insects to enter you home. Imagine cutting a 14 square inch hole in your front door, letting air in and out all year, while the air conditioner or the heater is running! With home weatherization, you can lower your utility bills, for good.
Find the leaks!
The first thing you must do is find the leaks. Test your home yourself or call a professional contractor. A professional contractor will conduct what is called a blower door test. This is the most effective option, but you can find major leaks in your home by yourself.
On a cold, windy day, hold a lit stick of incense (or a small lit candle, incense is safer) next to your doors and windows. Walk around the house and hold the lit incense up to windowsills, window edges, doorjambs, electrical outlets, ceiling fixtures, attic entries, and any where that air might find its way inside your home. When you notice the smoke stream blow horizontally or the candle flame flicker, you've likely found a leak that needs sealing. Make sure to test places where plumbing fixtures and electrical wiring penetrate exterior walls. Check the cabinets under your sinks. Some bigger leaks you can feel with your hand.
Once you've found the leaks, seal them!
Caulk and weather-strip any doors and windows that leak air. Seal air leaks where ventilation ducts, plumbing, or electrical wiring penetrate a wall. Insulate water pipes with foam from your local hardware store. Outlets and switch plates on exterior walls of the home should get rubber gaskets installed behind them.
If you've got the time and money, replace single pane windows with double pane windows. Install storm windows in appropriate places in your home. Modern windows can be three to five times more energy efficient than older windows.
Go up to your attic. Inspect the insulation. Look for dirty spots on your insulation that resemble used cigarette filters. These are locations where air is probably moving in and out of your home. When you find these gaps, fill them with foam, or staple a sheet of plastic over them and seal the edges of the plastic with caulk.
If you have a fireplace, close the flue whenever the fireplace is not in use. The flue in your chimney is designed to let smoke and warm air out of the house. It creates significant drafts. Close it when there is no fire.
All of these various steps constitute home weatherization. Before you begin, get some advice from your local contractor and hardware store. If your home is very drafty, and you do a comprehensive job of weatherization, you can cut your utility bills by as much as 40 to 50%. It's an amazing difference, and you do not have to buy any new appliances or do any significant construction on your home. Never underestimate the benefits of home weatherization.
by: Matt Millsap
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