The price of energy continues to rise, and your heating bill may seem doomed to keep rising with it. Learning how to lower heating bills may actually be much easier than you think. These fixes are quick and easy, but they’re often overlooked as the winter chill sets in.
Seal Up Your Home’s Envelope
Your home’s exterior, otherwise known as the envelope, is the first protection against the outdoors. Use spray foam insulation or silicone caulking around all pipes, hoses and wires that pass through exterior walls.
From inside, look under exterior doors. Can you see daylight? Many homeowners don’t know that a door’s threshold is designed to adjust as needed. Turn the threshold screws counter-clockwise to raise it until it just meets the bottom edge of the door. Seal air leaks by adding a rubberized draft strip or foam weatherstripping to the door’s bottom edge.
Install Window Film and Weatherstripping
Your doors and windows should have soft foam strips wherever two movable surfaces meet. Over time, these strips peel off or degrade. Add weatherstripping wherever it’s missing, and remove and replace any damaged strips. Windows lose more energy than any other single feature in the house. Add inexpensive window film to significantly reduce these losses.
Add Switch Plate Gaskets
Switches and outlets represent insulation gaps. Flammable materials must be kept away from the electrical wires and junction boxes. Reduce the impact of this insulation gap by taking off each cover plate and adding a gasket inside, as well as plugging holes between the wall and the junction box.
Address the Attic
Insulating the attic can save as much as 1/3 of your energy bill, but it’s easy to leave gaps. Save even more by adding insulation and appropriately sized weatherstripping to the access door. Check for gaps in the insulation across the floor, and add extra wherever possible.
For more information on how to lower heating bills, contact Bill Joplin’s Air Conditioning & Heating. We offer comprehensive HVAC services to Frisco, Allen, McKinney and the surrounding areas.
