For many of us, home heating bills are going to go up substantially this winter. Now is the time to look around the house for leaks that will let the cold air in and warm air out – and then plug them up.
“If you’re feeling drafts during the wintertime, that’s a sure sign that you have leaks that you need to address,” said Kevin Brasler, executive editor at Checkbook.org. “The trick is to sleuth out all these leaks, you need to find them first.”
“It might not seem like much, but a little leak here and a little leak there, the cumulative effect of several can add up to the equivalent of leaving open a small window. Finding and plugging leaks costs very little money yet yields significant savings,” Brasler said.
Most leaks occur where different building materials meet – brick and wood siding, foundation and walls, and between the chimney and siding, Checkbook says. Other common problem areas are around windows and doors; mail slots; points of entry for electrical and gas lines, cable/internet wiring, and phone lines; outdoor water faucets; where vents pass through walls; cracks or gaps in siding, stucco, masonry, and all foundation materials; and around window air-conditioning units.
“You can probably save more by installing weather stripping around your exterior doors, then just about anything else you can do, and it’s easy and nearly free to do,” Brasler told me.
More Info: Saving Energy at Home (This story includes the Consumerpedia podcast on reducing your home energy use.