When the snow starts piling up, you want to know that the inside of your home will be cozy and warm.
If your home isn’t insulated, your heating bill could start to skyrocket this month. We all may be in for a long winter, so now is the time to find out exactly how well your home is prepared to handle these colder months. Today, we wanted to provide a few tips on how to insulate your home this winter.
Seal Your Entrances
One of the easiest ways to insulate your home is insulating entry points that receive a lot of use like doorways. You can put foam weatherstripping on the inside of the door to make a seal. This seal will help prevent drafts from entering at the bottom of the door, which means your heating system won’t have to go into overdrive to keep your house warm. This is a solid short-term solution and one of the ways to help cut down your energy costs.
Maximize Your Furnace’s Effectiveness
One of the easiest ways to improve the effectiveness of your furnace is by removing obstructions. Furniture and tables can affect airflow from your furnace and vents. So in order to maximize the warm air flowing throughout the house, adjust your furnishings. Also, make sure to change your HVAC filters monthly.
Insulate Your Attic
Insulating your attic can be pricey, but it’s one of the best ways to insulate your home and cut down on your energy costs over the long term. For DIY solutions, use sheets of unbacked insulation between all the floor joists in the attic. If you already have roll sheets between the joists, you can still add a second layer.
Determine Your Energy Use
One way to cut down your energy use is to analyze where you need heat the most. If your family spends most of their time in the family room, it won’t make sense to use the same amount of energy to heat a room that your family doesn’t spend much time in. To cut down your energy bill, don’t use the same amount of heat in every room. Also, shutting the doors will help keep heat in spaces you want it in. That will cut down on heat being dispersed throughout the house and in unused spaces.
Change Screens
If you haven’t changed your storm doors, now is the time! Because you don’t use these doors daily, it can be easy to forget about them. But your energy efficiency will improve if switch your storm doors to a solid glass pane.
Fisher Lumber for All of Your Home Improvement Project Needs
Fisher Lumber and Hardware has served homeowners and contractors in the Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia areas since 1894. We have excellent lumber, all of the building materials you need, top-notch tools, and the expertise to help you pick the right supplies for your project. Give us a call at 301-424-6500 or visit us online for more information. To see more tips for your DIY project, visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Houzz, and Twitter!