subject: Ways to Saving Your Home Thermal Energy [print this page] The greatest use of energy at home is how we use heat. One of the biggest home expenses can be your heating bill. There are some improvements you can make to you home which can help you reduce your heating cost. Some of these improvements do not require a huge amount of money.
It is agreed the words home improvements can cause some fear for a home owner. Some types of home improvements are costly but you can approach improvements in a cost effective manner to increase the efficiency of energy in your home. Heat which finds a way of escape from your home is the greatest way for your home to not be energy efficient. A lot of homes are drafty as cold air is allowed to enter into the home during the winter making it more costly and very difficult to heat your home. A home with drafts can loose as much as twenty percent of its heat. Some investigative work can be done to find the cause of these drafts. Place your hand by the edge of your windows and doors to locate where drafts are at. When you sense the cold air by your hand you will know you have found a draft. Once the draft as been located you can choice one of several different methods to seal it off based upon where it is located. Use draft eliminators at both interior and exterior doors. Use filler or sealers for spaces and cracks around window frames and flooring. By simply opening up your window coverings to allow the sun to heat your home during the day will help to heat your home. The window coverings should be closed at night time to hold the warm air inside.
An easy way to reduce your energy bill is to lower your thermostat. Just turning it down 1 degree will provide more than a 5 percent reduction in your use of energy. You will be surprised to discover the one degree difference will not even be noticed. Do not heat rooms you are not using and save on your energy cost. There is a cost for setting your home up for 2 zone heating but it will be worth it. If your bedrooms are located upstairs and there is a separate thermostat for downstairs you can turn the downstairs temperature down during sleeping hours.
Providing proper insulation is the best way to conserve energy. As much as one third of your homes heat leaves your home by way of the roof. When it snows, does the snow on your roof melt quicker than that of your neighbor's? If so, you are loosing heat through your roof which is melting the snow. There are a lot of insulation types which work very well and will not cost a great abundance of money. Another one third of your homes heat could escape from the cavity walls so an investment to insulate the cavity wall could also be wise. These energy efficient and cost saving methods will positively affect your home's heat efficiency and save you a pocketful of money on your energy bills in the long term.
If you want more great information on saving energy in your home, then check out this information: Saving Home Energy.
