Maintaining Your Home

      Easy Ways to Winterise Your Home

Old man winter is rarely polite enough to knock-more likely he will slip right through your window, under your door or down the chimney. The only gift he bears is a high heating bill. This winter you can protect your home from this unwelcome guest with a few simple upgrades to improve energy efficiency.

Windows can be the largest heat-loss source in your home. Single-glaze windows, common in older homes, can account for up to 25% of a home's energy costs. Double panes will not only save energy they will also block some of the outside street noise. If double panes are not feasible, storm windows are another option. They can be installed easily and removed when desired. If you suspect that heat loss is occurring in localised areas around the window frame, try this simple test: one person stands outside blowing a stream of air from a hairdryer against the window while another person inside holds a candle near the window. When the flame flickers, that is an indication that air is creeping through minute spaces in the frame. Repairing those areas with caulking is a quick, easy way to save money.

Sealing your doors is now also easier than ever. Weather-stripping foam is available in a variety of widths to fit practically any size gap. Most also come with a handy adhesive backing making them one of the fastest winter fix-ups.

The home furnace is one of the essential ingredients of a Canadian winter. It's as important as hockey and cable TV but we often don't give it as much consideration. Consider these tips to keep your furnace working well throughout the winter:

• Clean or replace all air filters once a month during winter usage to help your unit run efficiently. Filters can become clogged with dust and obstruct airflow, which forces the motor to work harder thus wearing out faster. Energy costs can increase as well as the amounts of dust circulating through your home. The small investment in a new filter-usually only about two dollars-will start to pay off immediately.
  
  
• It is also essential to lubricate the blower motor and, if applicable to your particular furnace model, the draft-induced motor.
  
  
• Furnaces and water heaters are often located in the basement, which is a part of the house you may not need to heat. Significant amounts of heat escape through highly conductive metal parts. Specially designed non-flammable insulation is available at most hardware stores for wrapping pipes and hot water heaters. Insulation is also the best way to prevent water pipes from bursting when the thermometer dips.

Did you know that a family of four can produce 22 kilograms of water vapour per day? That moisture can cause mould and mildew to grow inside walls. Vapour retardant on the inner wall surfaces is essential. Older homes or homes in damp climates are most likely to suffer from this problem. A vapour barrier should be part of any wall renovation or insulation project. Your local building store should be able to recommend the best type for your home.

Quaint older homes can lose some of their charm when they are drafty and expensive to heat. They usually lack the proper amount and quality of insulation. Heat rises naturally and, if an effective barrier is not created, it will flow through the roof. An extra layer of fibreglass insulation along the attic floors and/or ceiling will help keep the house cosy. Attic insulation can also help prevent a disaster: excessive heat radiating from the roof can cause snow to repeatedly melt and freeze forming a heavy layer of ice. If that ice becomes hidden beneath a new snowfall it may go unnoticed until that quaint old roof comes crashing into your living room!

If you have sealed your windows and revamped the attic but still find it chilly you may need to consider insulating exterior walls. Holes can be drilled from the outside so that insulation can be blown into the stud cavities. This can be a fairly expensive technique but is often the only alternative to tearing apart the walls to add insulation.

The smell of charred wood and a distinct chill in any room with a fireplace often indicates that the chimney flue is not closed properly or that there are cracks in the brickwork. It is fairly easy to mix up a bit of mortar or cement and seal those cracks. A decorative cover over the hearth is a good way to prevent ashes and cold from escaping into the room when the fireplace is not in use.

Programmable thermostats are another great way to cut back on energy consumption without much effort. You can program the furnace to heat up just before you get home from work and cool down at bed time or whenever the house is empty. However, the furnace should not be shut off completely when you are out for the day since it could take hours to return to a normal temperature. Heating a very cold house also requires more energy than simply raising the temperature from 15 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees Celsius.

The easiest and cheapest source of heat is still the sun. Open the curtains on south facing windows during the day to let in those rays! Winter sunshine is not as direct and warm as in the summer, but it can still heat a house significantly and help chase away those winter blues!

By making a few winter preparations, your house can be cosy and affordable to heat. Add a warm fire and a cup of cocoa and you won't even notice old man winter knocking on your door.

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