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When fall weather hits it’s a good time of the year to take a look around the
inside and outside of your home to see how you can make your home more energy
efficient this winter. Making your home energy efficient doesn’t have to cost an
arm and a leg. For example you don’t have to replace all of your windows to
reduce your home energy costs. Instead if you apply window caulking around the
outside of the windows and install door and window weather stripping around the
interior perimeter of the windows you can dramatically reduce air drafts into
your home. |
Fall is also a good time of the year to have your home furnace inspected and
cleaned. After a year of use a furnace can begin to operate less efficiently.
Older furnaces can typically achieve around 85% efficiency while newer ones can
exceed 90%. With less furnace efficiency you’re wasting fuel and not heating
your home as well. Also, if the chimney flue is partially clogged your furnace
may be starved of sufficient oxygen to burn more efficiently. In addition, fuel
nozzles can often become clogged due to small particles in the oil. A clogged
fuel injector nozzle can translate into an inefficient or even non-working
furnace. Also, if you have forced hot air heating, make sure to replace the air
filters ever few months. A clogged air filter can cause the furnace to run less
efficiently and cause undue strain on it.
Also consider installing programmable thermostats in your home. You can save a
small fortune by using them. You can program them to a much cooler temperature
setting during the day when you’re not home, and a then a higher temperature
setting an hour before you get home. They also have weekend settings where you
can leave the temperature higher all throughout the day so you don’t need to
reprogram them all the time.
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With winter the days are short and the nights are long. As a result, you end up
burning the light bulbs a lot more. In making your home energy efficient
consider replacing some of the most continually used light bulbs with compact
fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. They can save you up to 75% on electricity costs
compared to incandescent light bulbs, albeit there more expensive. The trick
with CFL bulbs is to use them in rooms where the lights are left on for long
periods of time. The more you cycle them on and off the shorter their lifespan.
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Finally, take a look in your attic for proper and adequate insulation.
Insufficient attic insulation is one of the chief contributors to a non energy
efficient home. Depending upon where you live you should have between R38 and
R49 insulation in your attic. Installing additional attic insulation is easy to
do and relatively inexpensive, so if your attic is lacking sufficient insulation
make sure to tackle this project before the cold weather hits.
For information on
Installing a New Window, see the
Installing a New Window Ebook from
HomeAdditionPlus.com. The Installing a New Window Ebook provides easy to
understand, step-by-step instructions, on how to remove an old window and
install a new one. Pictures are included for every key step in the process.
Related Information
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