If your house is not adequately insulated, you’ll feel the chilly winter weather as well as the pain of higher heating bills. Find out techniques you can use to insulate your home so you save money and feel comfortable this winter.
Weatherstrip Doors
Air often leaks in under doors, creating drafts. Weatherstripping creates a tighter seal around the door, to block air leaks. Install weatherstripping yourself or use a draft stopper, which blocks air from passing underneath a door.
Seal Windows
Drafty windows benefit from sealing to block off air leaks. A simple solution is to use a heat-shrinking plastic, which is applied directly over the window. If you don’t want to cover the windows, install cellular shades, which insulate the windows to reduce the transfer of cold air.
Add Natural Lighting
Natural lighting can bring in solar heat and brighten rooms. If your home lacks natural light, you may want to consider skylights as a supplementary source of light and solar heat gain.
Insulate the Attic
Perhaps the best thing you can do to reduce a chill in your home is to insulate the attic. A properly insulated attic keeps cold air inside the attic, treating it as outdoor space. This prevents heat from rising (a naturally occurring phenomenon) and ultimately from escaping through the attic. Now heat remains in the home, so you feel more comfortable in your home.
Insulation also benefits you by preventing the transfer of heat in summer months, so you feel comfortable without needing to blast the air conditioner.
HVAC Service
Cleaning and servicing your HVAC equipment helps it function efficiently, which saves you money.
Heat Smartly
After you take steps to reduce air leaks, consider how you heat the home. A zoned heating system allows you to heat only the area where you are, for instance by heating the main floor of the home in the evening when everyone is downstairs instead of also directing heat to unoccupied bedrooms.
Open plan homes are difficult to heat, since air flows throughout the house. Close doors when possible to confine heat in occupied rooms. You’ll not only feel warmer, you will save money by keeping the heat in the area where you need it.
Get an Estimate
Are you looking for skylights, roof insulation, or anything else? Get an estimate from Brandstetter’s KangaRoof, Cincinnati’s leading roofing professional.
