Tips To Decrease Your Energy Bills This Winter By Draught Proofing Your Apartment

| Sunday, November 13, 2011
By Larry David


An energy-efficient home is one that most of us would like to have, but simply don't take the time necessary to achieve. However, draught proofing your home will reduce your energy bills quite dramatically as you will see below.

Don't just deal with the big problems, although these need the quickest attention, even a hole the size of a pin will have an effect on the energy consumption. Determining a leak is easy to do and requires only a stick of incense. It is highly recommended however, that the test is conducted on a windy day. Use the incense smoke as a guide as you run it along different areas of the home and see if the smoke is disturbed.

According to statistics, a 10% reduction in total heat loss will be enjoyed simply by sealing all the gaps. The task is not difficult and all the materials are easy to locate, mainly found in any hardware store at affordable prices.

Just do the math to see exactly how much you'll be saving with this 10% reduction and then multiply it to see how much you'll be saving over the many years to come. It's safe to say that it is a very worthwhile investment.

Make sure to check the doors, windows, electrical outlets, plumbing connections to the wall as well as the dryer exhaust with the stick of incense. Additionally, do the same tests along the fireplace if this feature exists in the home. Surprisingly, it can lose anywhere between five to 8% of the energy.

More often than not, this feature is not used daily, so you can make a removable seal. All that is necessary is to cut out a 2 inch thick Styrofoam exactly to the size of the fireplace opening. Then, cover it with an attractive fabric that matches the decor in the room. This only works on wood burning fireplaces. A very important point is to not forget to close the flue once the fire has been extinguished within it.

Draught proofing your windows is very important because there is a lot of heat loss occurring here in most cases. This is usually a bigger job but it is well worth it because your home will be much more comfortable once it's done. A quick tip is to use heavy fabric window treatments, thick roller blinds or vertical blinds.




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