A while back the guys on the forum put together a great list of energy saving tips. These are simple things that you can do pretty much right now, or maybe right after a quick run to the home improvement store for supplies. These aren’t huge projects that take weeks to complete. They also aren’t horribly expensive things to do. These are the basic and cost effective things you can do to cut those energy bills.
For the blog purposes, we’re going to break it down into sections because it is a fairly long list. We’ll also provide links to examples throughout the site.
Please keep in mind that this list was intended to grow over time as we think of new ideas. Feel free to recommend things to be added to the list.
We’re going to start out with air sealing as its the biggest problem in most houses. Thankfully, its also the easiest and usually cheapest place to start improving things.
Air Sealing Tips
- Seal all penetrations in the ceiling to attic that might leak air (light fixtures, plumbing, ducting…) with caulk or expanding foam.
- Check and fix/replace weather stripping around doors and windows.
- Check and fix/replace caulking on outside of the house, windows, doors, and other trim. Recheck every ~2 years.
- Use magnetic weather stripping for exterior steel doors (like a refrigerator seal).
- Use window film kits to stop air leakage around windows and improve insulation value.
- Use removable caulk to stop air leakage around windows.
- Do a DIY home leakage test (a more expensive, but more through options is a professional energy audit).
- Seal the rim joist in the basement (the board on top of the concrete).
- Seal any outside penetrations in the wall (electrical, plumbing, ducting).
- Seal and insulate the attic access door.
- Install power switch and outlet gaskets.
If you like, you can see the full list of 60+ home energy saving tips.
Comments on this entry are closed.