Adam's Apple
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- Apr 25, 2004
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Beating the Record High Cost of Winter
By Mary Hunt, Everyday Cheapskate
November 21, 2005
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, stopping air leaks in a house can save as much as 40 percent on the home's heating and cooling costs.
The basic tools needed to tighten up a home are a good all-purpose caulk, a caulking gun, filler caulk for larger holes, weather stripping for doors and windows and insulating gaskets for electrical outlets. You may also need expanding foam to fill larger holes.
LIGHT SWITCHES AND ELECTRICAL OUTLETS: Install foam gaskets behind all light switches and electrical outlet covers, even those in interior walls. These simple foam gaskets help seal the holes created when the outlets and light switches are built into homes. After installing the gaskets, use child safety plugs to keep the cold air from coming in through the sockets. Find foam gasket kits at home-improvement stores, or cut your own from the foam trays that come with packaged meat.
AIR CONDITIONERS: Remove window air conditioners. If they can't be removed, seal up the area around the unit with removable rope caulk and add an air conditioner window insulation blanket.
WINDOWS AND DOORS: Weather-strip and caulk all cracks between walls and window trim, especially under windowsills. Replace broken glass, and putty any loose windowpanes. Caulk around the moving parts of windows with a non-permanent caulk during the winter. This type of caulk can be easily removed in the spring.
RECESSED LIGHTS AND BATHROOM FANS: Caulk around these from below with high-temperature, flexible caulk.
OTHER EXTERIOR WALL HOLES: Seal around all ceiling fixtures, heat registers, medicine cabinets, bathtubs, kitchen cabinets, drains and water pipes where they enter the walls, and any other holes in exterior walls.
FIREPLACE: When the fireplace is not in use, keep the flue damper tightly closed. A chimney is designed specifically for smoke to escape, so until you close it, warm air escapes 24 hours a day!
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/cheapskate.asp
By Mary Hunt, Everyday Cheapskate
November 21, 2005
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, stopping air leaks in a house can save as much as 40 percent on the home's heating and cooling costs.
The basic tools needed to tighten up a home are a good all-purpose caulk, a caulking gun, filler caulk for larger holes, weather stripping for doors and windows and insulating gaskets for electrical outlets. You may also need expanding foam to fill larger holes.
LIGHT SWITCHES AND ELECTRICAL OUTLETS: Install foam gaskets behind all light switches and electrical outlet covers, even those in interior walls. These simple foam gaskets help seal the holes created when the outlets and light switches are built into homes. After installing the gaskets, use child safety plugs to keep the cold air from coming in through the sockets. Find foam gasket kits at home-improvement stores, or cut your own from the foam trays that come with packaged meat.
AIR CONDITIONERS: Remove window air conditioners. If they can't be removed, seal up the area around the unit with removable rope caulk and add an air conditioner window insulation blanket.
WINDOWS AND DOORS: Weather-strip and caulk all cracks between walls and window trim, especially under windowsills. Replace broken glass, and putty any loose windowpanes. Caulk around the moving parts of windows with a non-permanent caulk during the winter. This type of caulk can be easily removed in the spring.
RECESSED LIGHTS AND BATHROOM FANS: Caulk around these from below with high-temperature, flexible caulk.
OTHER EXTERIOR WALL HOLES: Seal around all ceiling fixtures, heat registers, medicine cabinets, bathtubs, kitchen cabinets, drains and water pipes where they enter the walls, and any other holes in exterior walls.
FIREPLACE: When the fireplace is not in use, keep the flue damper tightly closed. A chimney is designed specifically for smoke to escape, so until you close it, warm air escapes 24 hours a day!
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/cheapskate.asp
