Inclement weather can be tough on your home, and if you haven’t done so yet, it’s a good time to prepare your home for the winter season!
Follow these DIY tips to prepare your home — you’ll be more comfortable when the thermometer dips and save more on energy bills:
- Clean or replace furnace filters often. Clogged and dirty filters cause the heater to work much harder and lead to early failure. Changing your filters regularly can prevent this, and if you have baseboard heating, make sure the coils are clean.
- Caulk, weatherstrip and insulate.
- Close off unoccupied rooms (unless you have a heat pump).
- Check your fireplace at night. Chimneys can be responsible for substantial heat loss. If you have an open fireplace, make sure the damper is fully closed when it is not in use.
- Open draperies and shades in sunny windows. Close them at night to keep the cold out.
- Use portable heaters only in small areas for short periods of time. Using a portable heater for three hours a day costs $1 on average, but on a bi-monthly bill, that’s an additional approximately $60.
- Stop drafts at the bottom of doors and along windowsills — use a 3-inch by 36-inch cloth tube (“door snake”) filled with sand or small beans or use a rolled-up towel or rug.
We’ve got even more home saving energy efficiency suggestions for you.