Fall Home Preparation
by Mary Ann Romans
Once you get through with all of the back to school work, it is time to start thinking about how you can prepare your home in the fall to make it more efficient and a lot more green. Typically, in most areas, when winter comes, we use more energy to keep our home comfortable. Let us reduce that dependence with some savvy, but easy, home preparation.
One of the best things that you can do for your home in the fall is to eliminate as many drafts as possible. Of course, there are the walls, especially those of the foundation to address, the attic and around windows and doors. But there are also some other hidden draft spots, such as your fireplace or chimney, around electrical outlets and light fixtures and the entrance for your dryer vent hose. Also make sure to take down window air conditioners and close the fireplace flue when not in use.
Speaking of fireplaces, they can actually rob your home of a good deal of heat. You can change this by fitting in a wood burning stove, use an electric fireplace insert or a direct vent natural gas insert.
Another spot that can use some insulation is your hot water heater. If you insulate the hot water pipes, then your heater will not have to work as hard at maintaining the hot temperature, and therefore, it will use less energy. Use pipe insulation and cover the first nine feet of the pipe leading from the hot water heater, as well as any exposed pipe.
There are plenty of other things you can improve or replace for the fall. Why not replace your toilet with a low flush model or at least add a brick or other weight to the tank to reduce your water usage. Low-flow shower heads can also reduce your water usage.
If you don't already have one, install a programmable thermostat
. This will keep your energy usage down while you are away from the home or, or while you are sleeping.
Source: http://green-living.families.com/blog/fall-home-preparation, accessed August 1, 2010 @ 10:30a.m.
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