During the winter your house has many outlets that cause it to be a huge source of energy waste. Much of the heat that you produce to keep the temperature in your home comfortable seeps out of the house and into the environment. Here are nine tips to minimize the escape of heat in the winter, consequently lowering your energy usage (and bill):
- It is nice to have a comfortable temperature in the home, but in the winter the definition of a comfortable temperature should be assessed with a sweatshirt on, not just a t-shirt. Turn the thermostat down a couple degrees. For every degree you change, your house saves approximately 3% of its energy costs.
- Change your furnace filters monthly.
- Your home lets out heat and lets in cold through all the smallest exposed airways in walls, ceilings and, floors. Use caulk or foam to seal passages that are open around plumbing, electrical wiring, or ducting.
- Check your weather stripping and replace any worn sections. (If you do not have any yet, be sure to buy some. Doorways that lead outside are a common culprit of major energy loss, and weather stripping provides tight insulation to reduce this problem.)
- Minimize the amount of space with which the heat of the household needs to be shared by closing doors and heat vents in rooms that are unused. There is no sense in heating up a room that people are not in.
- Use your fireplace, but do not forget to close the dampers after you are done. Otherwise, the chimney acts like a giant open window.
- Close shades and curtains at night. This help keeps heat from escaping the home as the temperature outside drops.
- If you are replacing windows, buy them with the Energy Star logo; they are said to reduce energy waste by %15.
- Use environmentally-friendly insulators in cellars or attics: recycled cotton, cellulose, and soybean foam are among the betters options.
Using these tips could drastically reduce the amount of energy your home expends in the winter.
Source: The Green Guide
