The winter season can be a mixed bag in terms keeping your house warm. It also doesn’t help that many homes – especially older houses – can be poorly insulated to trap heat effectively indoors throughout the season.
So, to make sure you’re staying warm this winter without sending your bank account into ruin, here are a few helpful tips for weatherproofing your home.
Seal your doors and windows
If you’re searching for the main culprits involved with letting cold air in and warm air out, look no further than your home’s doorways and windows. These portals can often be poorly insulated, meaning drafts can slip through the frames while cold temperatures penetrate thin panes of glass.
For windows, installing outer storm windows can block much of the chilly air. Similarly, hanging heavy window curtains indoors can add another barrier to the cold. You may also want to invest in rubber weatherstripping along the edges of the window.
As for doors, you can often get away with placing a door snake – a fabric tube filled with sand – along the bottom of the frame to seal off any drafts. If your home features flooring materials such as travertine tiles or hardwood, consider using large woven area rugs to block cold air rising from the floor and doormats to stop drafts under doorways.
Insulate your wall outlets and ceiling fixtures
Of course, doors and windows aren’t the only ways for warm air to escape your home. Believe it or not, your electrical wall outlets and ceiling lights also contribute to heat loss.
You can check to see whether there’s a draft by approaching these fixtures and feeling for any cold air movement. If you find a draft, consider installing special insulation designed to plug up any cracks around the outlets or light bulbs.
Get a furnace tuneup
Even if you manage to effectively stop most unwanted drafts from affecting your home, you’re still going to need to turn on the heat to keep warm. For homes that use older oil furnaces, even turning the thermostat on for a couple of hours can result in burning a lot of energy, especially with travertine installation that does not help hold warmth in a room.
Because of this, you may want to call your heating provider to have a repair technician inspect the furnace’s efficiency. A few hours of maintenance can greatly reduce the amount of oil used to heat your home, saving you bundles of cash over the course of the season.
