« Back

Winter Efficiency Tips

Prepping for Winter's Chills

Time will tell whether this winter proves to be mild or severe. But for certain you can count on a gradual cooling down of outside temperatures for the next three months. Now is the time to prepare for winter's chills.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Americans spend $1 million a minute on energy or $525.6 million annually. Forty-two percent of that cost is for heating and cooling our homes.

Without getting too scientific, it's good to know how heat moves. Heat naturally flows from a warmer area to a cooler area in one of three ways: conduction, convection and radiation.

Conduction is where heat transfers directly from mass to mass as in a pan being heated on a stove. Convection is the movement of heated air from one space to another. Most homes have ducts to carry heated air from the furnace throughout the house. Radiation occurs when a heat source gives off heat toward a cooler one. When you sit in front of a roaring fireplace, for example, you feel its radiated heat. In heating our homes, we use insulation to reduce the radiation and transfer heat by convection with a minimum of conduction.

Typically, we set our winter thermostats higher than needed. If you're wearing sleeveless tops and shorts and going barefoot inside your house in the middle of winter, you've got the thermostat set too high. Lower it to 68 degrees, and you'll be perfectly comfortable if you dress for winter, not summer. That means layering on long-sleeved shirts, sweats, sweaters and socks when inside as well as outside.

Every degree you lower your thermostat will save you money, and you'll still be comfortable if you dress for the season.

The best way to keep the warm air in and the cold air out  and see real savings to your heating bill  will come from making changes in these five key areas:

• Stop the drafts and leaks  caulk, seal and weatherstrip wherever outside meets inside
• Ready your heating system for winter
• Insulate the dickens out of your home  in Missouri that's R-30 to R-38 for ceilings
• Adjust the thermostat downward
• Caulk and weatherstrip your windows and doors or if replacing them, buy the most energy efficient ones you can afford

A few other simple steps can cut more dollars off your heating bill. For example:

• Replace a normal showerhead, which typically uses 8 gallons per minute, with a low-flow showerhead that uses only 1 to 2 gallons of water per minute. Low-flow showerheads cost between $10 and $60 and pay for themselves in less than a year by reducing the amount of water you use and the energy it takes to heat it.
• How hot do you need that water? It's easy to forget your water heater is running 24/7 to keep water hot for the relatively small amount of time you need it. Lowering the set temperature of your water heater by only a few degrees can add up to significant savings over the course of a year.
• Reverse the switch on your ceiling fans so they push down the warm air that naturally rises. This is especially valuable in rooms with high ceilings.
• Make sure all heating vents are opened and unblocked by furniture or other items to ensure air is evenly distributed through the home.

The Energy Star Web site at http://www.energystar.gov/ offers excellent advice on prepping for winter. You can download information on home sealing, duct sealing, general heating and cooling advice and much more.

Measure your home energy use

A handy energy yardstick calculator on the Energy Star Web site in the Home Improvements section allows you to see how your home energy use stacks up against others with the same size and age of house, number of occupants and source of heat.

Enter specifics about your house and the amount and cost of kilowatt-hours over 12 months (available on your monthly electric bill), and you'll receive a report on how your energy use measures up. Households that use less energy than the average receive a score between 5 and 10. If your score is higher than average, the site provides ideas for reducing your use to a level that could save on your energy bill.
One factor in the calculation is how many heating degree days (HDD) you experience. For example, when the average outdoor temperature is below 65 degrees, most homes need heat to keep the inside temperature comfortable. Each degree the average (mean) daily temperature is below 65 degrees counts as one HDD. If the average daily temperature for yesterday was 45 degrees, it would count as 20 HDDs.

No more drafts and leaks: tips for caulking, sealing and weatherstripping

If you're of a certain age, chances are you grew up in a drafty, wood-framed farm house with little or no insulation. Often, rooms were shut off to conserve heat in other rooms. You constantly stoked the wood stove to keep it going, and in the front room, which was heated with an oil-burning stove, you swung between blasts of hot air and drafts of icy air seeping in when the stove wasn't running.

Those days for most of us are long gone, but there are still plenty of drafty, leaky homes out there. Those leaks can waste 10 to 15 percent of your heating dollars. Simple weatherstripping and caulking can stop most of the leaks.

By the way, generally, you don't have to worry about sealing your house too tightly if it's an older home. Fresh air is needed for good indoor air quality, and if you're concerned about how tight your home is, hire a contractor.

Visit ENERGY STAR to download a Do-It-Yourself Guide to Energy Star Home Sealing. This useful guide and the Energy Star home sealing website offers these tips on where to look for leaks and what to do to stop them.

Seal attic leaks. Doing that will likely make the biggest impact on your energy bill. Start by plugging the big holes first, such as open stud cavities. If your attic is finished, seal behind the kneewalls. Next, seal around the furnace flue, using proper techniques and seals. Then go after small gaps, using foam or caulk. For example, where there's dirty insulation, you'll likely find small gaps underneath to seal with caulk or expanding foam. Fill wiring and plumbing holes with expanding foam, and caulk around electrical junction boxes and fill holes in the box with caulk. If the space around your plumbing pipes is wider than 3 inches, stuff fiberglass insulation into the space. Once the fiberglass insulation is in place, follow the directions on the can to foam the space around the pipe. Finally, weatherstrip the attic hatch or door.

Check around doors and windows for leaks and drafts, and weatherstrip and caulk any holes you see; make sure doors seal properly. Foam and vinyl weatherstripping wear out and need to be replaced periodically.

Close that fireplace damper. When the fireplace is not in use, an open damper is like an open window that draws warm air out of the room and creates a draft.

Caulk or seal every duct, wire or pipe that penetrates walls, ceilings and floors. Plumbing vents can be especially bad, since they begin below the floor and go all the way through the roof.

Caulk to seal along the basement sill plate and around door and window frames.

Seal electrical outlets and switches on outside walls with inexpensive foam gaskets that fit behind light switches and electrical outlet plates.

Caulk around heating system floor registers to seal gaps.

Close storm windows and doors.

Remove window air conditioners to prevent drafts and seal windows better.


Common household air leaks

The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Energy Star Home Sealing identifies these common locations for air leaks:

• Behind kneewalls
• Attic hatch
• Wiring holes
• Plumbing vent
• Open soffit
• Recessed light
• Furnace flue or duct chaseways (the hollow box or wall feature that hides ducts)
• Basement rim joists (where the foundation meets the wood framing)
• Windows and doors

Don't duck duct care

Ducts are like big hoses that distribute warm air throughout your house. Because they're usually concealed in walls, ceilings, attics and basements, it's easy to forget about them. But over time, ducts can become crushed or flattened and develop cracks. Duct tape can dry out and fall off. It won't last long, so don't use it. Uninsulated ducts also lose heat. In fact, as much as 20 percent of heated air can be lost because of faulty ducts before it even reaches the rooms you wish to heat.

If you have high winter and summer utility bills; have rooms that are difficult to heat and cool; have stuffy rooms that never seem to feel comfortable; have ducts in an attic, crawlspace or garage; or have tangled or kinked flexible ducts, then chances are your ducts are leaking. When sealing ducts, first fix the ones that will make the biggest difference:

First seal those that run through the attic, crawlspace, unheated basement or garage. Use duct sealant (mastic) or metal-backed (foil) tape to seal the seams and connections of ducts. After sealing the ducts in those spaces, wrap them in insulation to keep them from getting cold in winter and hot in summer.

Second, seal ducts you can access in the heated part of the house.

Third, make sure the connections at vents and registers are well-sealed where they meet the floors, walls and ceiling.

What to know about furnaces and space heaters

Your heating system, if it's fueled by gas, oil or electricity, is your principal energy cost. Types of systems include forced-air furnaces, ground-source heat pumps, air-to-air heat pumps and boilers. If your furnace or heating system is more than 10 years old or not keeping your house comfortable, have a professional HVAC contractor check it out. When it's time for a replacement, consider an Energy Star unit, which can save 15 percent to 20 percent over a conventional model. Here is some good advice for preparing your heating system for winter:

Tune up your furnace annually, usually in autumn.

Replace or clean your furnace filter each month you heat or cool your home; forced air furnace filters keep dust and dirt out of cold air returns, out of the furnace and out of your house. Dirty filters can greatly affect the heating ability of the furnace and waste valuable fuel.

Vacuum heating registers and as far into the ducts as you can reach.

If you have baseboard or electric wall heaters, brush and remove dust and dirt from the cooling fins and fan.

Check and clean electronic air cleaners every month.

If your heating system is old, consider updating it with a new Ground Source Heat Pump.

Portable heaters could save money if you're willing to keep most of your house chillier and use the heater in just one room; otherwise, portables will cost you more, not less.