Eldon- Winter Prepartion
By: Import User
Updated: October 17, 2007
GETTING READY FOR WINTER
Fill in all driveway cracks and sidewalk cracks. They make caulking tubes and pour bottles of filler for use in filling the cracks in concrete and asphalt. Water will get into the cracks in the wintertime and will freeze causing more damage to the driveway or sidewalk. Use sand to help fill in the cracks if they are ½” or deeper.
Replace broken glass in windows and replace missing putty around the glass. Check caulking that has cracked out and replace.
Clean all light bulbs and glass globes, if they are dirty. You can lose 30% of your light with dirty light bulbs. You can replace incandescent bulbs (regular light bulb) with florescent bulbs. Florescent bulbs waste only 5% of the energy while incandescent bulbs lose 95% of their energy as heat in the bulb.
Insulate behind your wall plug-ins and switches with foam insulation to keep the air out.
Check around the door for worn out insulation and if the threshold rubber is worn, replace. If you cannot find a threshold rubber, put a door sweep on your door. There are all kinds of stick on and screw on sweeps.
If you have large cracks to fill to keep the outside air out, use backer rod. It is round foam that comes in 3/8” - ½” - ¾” diameter.
Heating with gas is going to be very costly this year. Keep your thermostat set on 68 degrees or lower during the daytime and lower at night when you are in bed. Wear a sweater and dark clothes during the day and extra covers during the night or buy yourself an electric blanket. Your heating cost goes up 8 to 10% for every degree above this temperature.
Thermostats that automatically control your temperature in the house are getting very cheap. Invest in one. It will pay for itself in no time.
If you are not using a room shut and block off the register. This can save on your heating bill. If the register leaks after you have closed it off, buy a magnetic register blocker to place over the register to keep it from leaking.
Humidity is very important in your house. If the humidity is too low it will take more energy to heat your house; therefore costing you more on your heat bill. Buy a humidity gauge to check the humidity. There are many varieties of humidifiers to help you keep the correct humidity in your house. Be sure you get one large enough for your needs. Some humidifiers have their own humidity gauge.
Make sure that draperies, furniture and other objects are not blocking the heat from the registers. Get a plastic inexpensive air deflector to direct the flow of the air to where you need it.
Keep the doors of cabinets, pantries, closets and storage rooms that are inside the house closed. You need not heat these areas.
If you have a gas water heater you may want to get a fiberglass blanket to go around it to save heat. If you have an electric water heater they are already insulated with foam. You need not buy an insulating blanket for it. It is insulated enough already.
Turn on a ceiling fan to move the air around. Heat rises. Put your ceiling fan on low to blow the heat down from the ceiling.
Fill in all driveway cracks and sidewalk cracks. They make caulking tubes and pour bottles of filler for use in filling the cracks in concrete and asphalt. Water will get into the cracks in the wintertime and will freeze causing more damage to the driveway or sidewalk. Use sand to help fill in the cracks if they are ½” or deeper.
Replace broken glass in windows and replace missing putty around the glass. Check caulking that has cracked out and replace.
Clean all light bulbs and glass globes, if they are dirty. You can lose 30% of your light with dirty light bulbs. You can replace incandescent bulbs (regular light bulb) with florescent bulbs. Florescent bulbs waste only 5% of the energy while incandescent bulbs lose 95% of their energy as heat in the bulb.
Insulate behind your wall plug-ins and switches with foam insulation to keep the air out.
Check around the door for worn out insulation and if the threshold rubber is worn, replace. If you cannot find a threshold rubber, put a door sweep on your door. There are all kinds of stick on and screw on sweeps.
If you have large cracks to fill to keep the outside air out, use backer rod. It is round foam that comes in 3/8” - ½” - ¾” diameter.
Heating with gas is going to be very costly this year. Keep your thermostat set on 68 degrees or lower during the daytime and lower at night when you are in bed. Wear a sweater and dark clothes during the day and extra covers during the night or buy yourself an electric blanket. Your heating cost goes up 8 to 10% for every degree above this temperature.
Thermostats that automatically control your temperature in the house are getting very cheap. Invest in one. It will pay for itself in no time.
If you are not using a room shut and block off the register. This can save on your heating bill. If the register leaks after you have closed it off, buy a magnetic register blocker to place over the register to keep it from leaking.
Humidity is very important in your house. If the humidity is too low it will take more energy to heat your house; therefore costing you more on your heat bill. Buy a humidity gauge to check the humidity. There are many varieties of humidifiers to help you keep the correct humidity in your house. Be sure you get one large enough for your needs. Some humidifiers have their own humidity gauge.
Make sure that draperies, furniture and other objects are not blocking the heat from the registers. Get a plastic inexpensive air deflector to direct the flow of the air to where you need it.
Keep the doors of cabinets, pantries, closets and storage rooms that are inside the house closed. You need not heat these areas.
If you have a gas water heater you may want to get a fiberglass blanket to go around it to save heat. If you have an electric water heater they are already insulated with foam. You need not buy an insulating blanket for it. It is insulated enough already.
Turn on a ceiling fan to move the air around. Heat rises. Put your ceiling fan on low to blow the heat down from the ceiling.
