Energy EfficiencyUncategorized

Weatherproofing Your Home to Save Money

By March 17, 2013 March 1st, 2014 No Comments

These days, utility costs are extremely expensive. It’s even worse if your home is not properly weatherized to deal with the ever changing climate. If your heating and air conditioning units are running longer than they should or your power bills are out of control, it’s likely that you need to look into weatherizing your home. By weatherproofing your home, you can increase the energy efficiency of your home to ensure that you aren’t spending more than you should for heating and cooling your home.

What is Weatherization?

Weatherization involves both sealing your home and then insulating it from additional weather concerns. If your home is not properly weatherized, you’re literally leaking money from your home. Running your heating and air conditioning without ensuring that your home is weatherproofed Sealing your home provides a physical barrier at cracks and other entryways where air might enter or leave your home. These areas are commonly referred to as “drafty” areas because there is air flow involved. Insulation provides a layer of protection against heated or cooled air escaping from the house. By properly weatherizing your home, you’re ensuring that the air you heat or cool stays where you want it to stay. Proper energy efficiency keeps your home’s heating and air units from working overtime to try to keep up.

Testing Your Home’s Energy Efficiency

One of the ways to determine how energy efficient your home is involves contacting a local company to perform an energy audit for you. The person performing the audit examines both the interior and the exterior of your home. He is looking for areas that are unsealed, or locations which might be compromised. The inspector then investigates your HVAC system to ensure that it is working properly. This includes not only the heating and cooling units, but also the ductwork as well. Thorough tests of all of the systems involved ensures that you have a full picture of your home’s current status. Testing your home’s energy efficiency is not a one time action. You’ll need to perform this task at least annually to make sure that you keep up with any problems that develop in your home. By staying on top of any problems, you can correct them before they become large issues.

Sealing Your Home

Once your home energy audit determines where the weaknesses lie in your home weatherization plan, the next step is to seal those leaks. This involves processes such as using caulk to seal door and window leaks. You should also install weather stripping if it is not already in place. Areas such as attic entry points and basement doors should also be weatherproofed in order to attain the maximum energy efficiency for your home. In recent years, lots of different types of insulation have come along. You can still get the traditional fiberglass insulation, but there are others also, such as foam insulation that expands to fit the area you need to fill. Look into these other options to finish your weatherproofing.

Air Conditioning Ductwork Repair for Greater Efficiency

During your energy audit, it’s likely that you might find ductwork that needs to be repaired. This is important because even if you properly seal the rest of the house, leaking ductwork allows heated or cooled air to escape your home’s interior. To properly fix the problem, your HVAC repair team will need to locate all of the faulty ductwork and replace individual pieces with sealed ducts. Once repaired, your heating and air conditioning units will again be able to function at peak efficiency, which means they will run less often and save you additional money.