Michael Holigan: Are the leaves starting to turn color where you live? If they are that means winter's not too far away. It's time to start getting those homes ready for the cold, cold months.
Al Carrell: We've brought in the experts and put together about a dozen tips on how to winterize your home this season. Some of these tips are as fun to do as they are to live with.
M.H.: Of course, our goal today is to teach you how to live comfortably without spending a lot of money. These inexpensive ideas are guaranteed to cut down your utility bills. So lets get started winterizing your home. It's pleasant outside now, but in a few weeks winter's going to be blowing in. You need to prepare your home for the cold. By taking a few precautionary steps and winterizing your home, not only will it be more comfortable, but you're going to save money on your heating bill. As a matter of fact, you're going to save money every season. Energy specialist Billy Wicker is here to help us today. And here's one area where we can save a lot of money every month, and that's just with the thermostat.
Billy Wicker: Exactly right, and what we've got here is a setback thermostat, Michael. And you can take a thermostat just like this and it actually allows us to have it come on when we're going to wake up, go off when you're going to leave, come back on before you get home and then go off right after you go to sleep. We recommend a 70 degree temperature in the wintertime. Every degree that you set your thermostat above that, it's going to cost you 5% to 7% on your heating bill.
M.H.: That's a big difference on the bill.
B.W.: It's a huge difference.
M.H.: And a setback thermostat's not very expensive. You can pick one up at most hardware stores for $30 or $40, and replace the thermostat that comes with your home. The filter can be just as important as the thermostat. The filter collects dust, which blocks the air flow. This can increase your energy bill and burn out your blower. You need to check these filters each month during the heating season and replace or clean them when necessary. Filters aren't that expensive. They're normally just a dollar. Fans can save you money too, while keeping you warm. In the summer, they pull up the cool air off the floor and circulate it through the room. But by switching the direction of the blades during cold months, the heated air is pushed down to where you are. A fireplace can be a major source of heat loss. When not in use, make sure that the damper is closed and the glass doors are shut. Wall sockets are another area that can cost you money. We've got a wire running up here to one of our beams, and if we don't caulk it up there, or properly caulk it, we can feel the air coming in here. There is one way, though, without rebuilding the house that we can take care of that, and it's these gaskets right here, And they're very simple to install.
M.H.: And Billy's right. The builder should caulk any holes in the outside walls and put a good housewrap on the house, but if they don't. this is something you can do, and it only takes a few minutes, and it's very inexpensive.
B.W.: It goes on just like this. It's very easy. And you really saving on your total electric costs or your utility costs right here. And we're done.
M.H.: If you feel any air below the door, you can stop by almost any hardware store and just pick up a strip that screws right on to the bottom of the door and it only cost a couple of dollars, and it will save you that much, at least, every month on air infiltration. You can detect air leaks around doors or windows by using a hairdryer and a candle. One person moves the blower around the outside frame, while another follows with a candle on the inside. If the flame flickers or is extinguished, you need weather stripping or caulking. Caulking is a cheap and reliable method of plugging leaks. It doesn't take much time and you can do it yourself. Caulk comes in different colors, so you'll have little problem matching your trim. When it comes to winterizing your home, different homes have different needs. This home was built back in the 1920's, so it presents some different challenges. Let's go take a look. Some older homes have rooms with no heating in them. If you happen to have exposed pipe, you're going to need to go ahead and get an insulated pipe wrap and wrap that copper. That's going to do a couple of things. One, it's going to prevent the pipe from bursting from freezing up. And two, it's going to save you money every single month, if it's a hot water pipe. You're not going to be losing that heat. As you already know, most older homes feel drafty, and that's because most older doors don't have any weather-stripping. We're going to change that. We need to keep the air from moving into the house so we're going to just put some generic foam weather-stripping on up in our door frame. You need to make sure everything's clean and dry before you stick it. Now when we close the door, we're going to have a nice, snug fit, and no air leaks. We talked earlier about caulking the windows, now we're going to cover putting on a storm window. We've got Scott Young here to help us. Good to see you Scott.
Scott Young: Hello Michael.
M.H.: Hey, what is the first step when you're going to start a storm window?
S.Y.: Well, step one is to get accurate measurements for the window itself, since you're making a custom product.
M.H.: Before ordering storm windows, make sure you precisely measure the existing window. Take three different measurements horizontally, from top to bottom. Take another couple of measurements vertically. This will ensure a snug fit.
S.Y.: Looks great. And all we're going to do now is set it inside the opening.
M.H.: Okay. You've already pre-drilled the frame, so we're set up there.
S.Y.: And if you would, just hold that. Now the advantages for the homeowner would be that you're creating a dead air space on a single pane window by putting another window on top of that. So you're basically doubling your R-Value on that and making a more energy efficient unit for your house, is what you're doing. The cost on this particular unit's going to run about $85 to $110, based on your options that you get with it.
M.H.: A lot of people make mistakes on the venting of the house. If you have a pier and beam foundation and you have vents, leave those vents open during the wintertime. Only cover them up if there's going to be a hard freeze that night. There's a lot of moisture underneath the foundation, and you need to let that air circulate and move that moisture out. The same goes for the vents up in the attic. I see a lot of people try to cover them up, or the turbines, they put garbage bags over the top. Don't do that. You want the air to circulate through the attic. Don't shut it off in the winter.
Episode 36 1996 - 97 Season
| Winterizing Your Home | Cola to Kill Mice | Brick and Vinyl Siding | Driveway Oil Spots | Decorating with Houseplants | Paper Plate Paint Catcher | Furniture Polish Recipe | Adjustable Rate Mortgages |