Most people wouldn't think of the end of the fall or early winter for home improvements, but making small home improvements can save you big on your home energy costs this winter.
Let's look at some winter Home Improvement ideas:
The fireplace - Getting our fireplace ready will certainly yield to better savings. Make sure that the dumper is tightly sealed when not using it. A small space would let the cold air rush in and send the warm air out. If you are using an electric heating system, an opening in the fireplace will mean a lot more work to maintain a warm, energy efficient home.
When you decide to use the fireplace, you can turn down your heater. This will save you as much as 8% on heating cost.
The furnace - The furnace will work extra effort if the filter is full of dirt. This will equate to home energy waste since the furnace will consume more power against the service it brings. To avoid this, make sure that your filter is clean. The owner's manual will tell you how to clean the filter. A clean filter will let you breath clean air around your house. A clean filter saves you 5% on heating cost.
The duct - Small leaks in the duct will certainly result in lost heat so make sure that this is regularly checked. Insulate the ducts by wrapping it with R-6 or higher fiberglass. Never use cloth-backed tapes. You can also wrap them with UL-approved metallic or plastic tapes and mastic sealants. Note that leaking ducts make your heating system work 30% more so make sure they are sealed and secured.
Solar heat - You don't need to have solar panels on your roof to use the sun as a source of heat. All you have to do is use open your drapes during the day to warn your room without using electricity. Just close them at night to keep the warn air inside. Reduction of the use of heating system during the day will let you cut as much as 10% on your home energy consumption. Now that's being efficient!
Openings - Openings around your doors, windows, and joints will let cold air outside come in and the warm air from your home go out. Make sure that these openings are sealed with either sealant or weatherstripping. It will help reduce the work of the heating system immensely.
The Thermostat - A programmable thermostat or a centralized heating system will let you save on heating costs. The programmable thermostat will let you set your desired at a specific period of the day. This is very useful if you are leaving your home or are going to sleep overnight. The centralized heating system on the other hand will give you the ultimate control of the temperature of every room. These 2 will let you decide how warm any one room can be. One interesting thing to note is that a centigrade lower on your heating system will let you save as much as 5% on your heating cost.
Many people neglect to truly prepare their homes for the winter season, and as a result, they pay for it big time in sky rocketed utility bills. Why? Because you need to warm you home and that doesn't come cheap these days. This consumes the biggest portion of our electric bill. Fortunately, there are measures we can take to lower our utility bills during the winter season.
But for those who are conscious enough to notice, winter means larger electric bills. Yes, it is true. Aside from summer, winter is the season of the year where your electric bills skyrocket to digits that cost you financial burden.
As you can see, there are many trouble spots in your home which require some attention during the winter season.
Learn more about DIY home improvement at do-it-yourself-projects.info.
Autor: Jess Petroski
DIYHomepro
http://www.do-it-yourself-projects.info
http://www.energy-efficient-home-improvement.com
Added: January 22, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
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