5 Winter Weather Home Preparation Tips

If there’s one season of the year where we tend to find ourselves the most concerned about our energy costs, it would have to be winter. Although many of us enjoy the snow and the fact that wintertime brings along with it the holiday season, trying to keep the rooms in our house at a comfortable temperature can sometimes prove to be a pretty expensive task.

In order to help you decrease some of your own energy costs this year, we have provided you with a list of five winter weather home preparation tips. This way, you can enjoy all that winter has to offer without having to pay a lot of money on energy in the process.

Check your windows. A huge reason why we tend to spend more money on electricity than we would like is because we end up losing energy due to drafts that are in the home and a big cause of them are related to our windows. So before doing anything else, check for cracks along the sides and window sills, attach some storm doors and if you don’t have double-pane windows, consider taping some bubble wrap to them. That will help to trap some of the cold air that may try to get into your house.

Purchase a tankless water heater. Electricity costs are not the only thing that you have to be concerned with during the winter season. In order to get your water costs down too, think about installing a tankless water heater. They’re specifically designed to only run when you need hot water which automatically makes them energy efficient.

Get more ceiling fans. It probably sounds a bit odd that one of our suggestions is that you get some (more) ceiling fans in your house but here’s the thing: When you set them to rotate counterclockwise, they actually can bring the heat that has risen to your ceiling down closer to where you are. That means you won’t have to make your HVAC unit work quite as hard to keep you warm.

Install a progammable thermostat . If you don’t already have a programmable thermostat in your house, it’s a small thing that can make a really big difference. Not only can you preset it to run at different temperatures for when you’re home as well as away, but did you know that if you keep your house set at around 73 degrees, you can remain comfortable and also keep your energy costs to a minimum too? You definitely cannot go wrong with a programmable thermostat.

Add more insulation. It can never hurt to add more insulation to your attic. As a matter of fact, according to many energy conservation experts, it’s best to have insulation that is about 12 inches thick surrounding your attic space. If you are someone who is also eco-friendly, insulation that’s made out of sheep’s wool, aerogel, cotton and even several ripped up jeans are all wonderful insulation materials. Also, don’t forget to insulate your pipes as well. Usually wrapping some foam insulation around them will do. For more ideas on how to insulate your home, visit EnergyStar.gov and put “DIY Guide to Sealing and Insulating” in the search field.