If you live in certain parts of the world, winter is the toughest time of year. The cold and inclimate weather can be brutal to deal with. If you get pummeled by the cold, especially when it’s snowing and icy out, you know how it can affect your home.
Trying to stay warm in cold weather causes your heater to work overtime. Whether you have baseboard heat, radiators, or a central heating system, you have to worry about your gas bill in the winter. Most people have one of those three ways of heating their home, so controlling the thermostat is top of mind for many. If you’ve been watching your bill climb each winter, you may not realize that your home is not sealed properly. There are some places that you need to ensure are sealed in order to save heat and money in the winter.
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Your attic has to be well-insulated
You could be losing more heat than you realize
Heat rises, so your heater is probably doing extra work trying to heat both the downstairs and the upstairs part of your house if you have different levels. If you have an attic in your home, you have to make sure that the door to the attic is properly sealed.
This prevents cold air from making its way down to the level below it. But warm air can also leave your upstairs level and head up to the attic if it isn’t properly sealed. Once you make your way into the attic, you want to have it well-insulated. This requires pads of insulation spread throughout the attic floor boards.
I remember that before we moved into our home, the home inspector mentioned that we could use some more padding in our attic in terms of insulation. In the few years that we’ve lived here, I’ve noticed that the gas bill has risen each year. While monitoring my thermostat is something that I have to do a better job of, I should also put some more insulation in the attic.
That’s because insulation provides a barrier for your home, eliminating heat from escaping through your roof. Having insulation there slows down the heat from reaching the attic and keeps it in the upstairs of your home.
Keeping your attic insulated properly can reduce your heating bill. One sure-fire way to note whether your roof is properly insulated is to see whether you get long icicles on your roof after a snowstorm. When snow sits on your roof, it can be melted by heat escaping through the attic. If that happens, the water will melt and run down your roof and into the gutters. This can cause water to freeze at the eaves of your home, causing long icicles. While seeing icicles may be a sight you look forward to every winter, it can damage your gutters and can be a warning sign that your attic isn’t insulated enough.
The more heat that ends up in your attic, the more moisture that can build up. With an improperly insulated attic, bacteria and mold can build more easily.
Your windows could be letting cold air in
Make sure they are properly caulked
Credit: Chris Hachey / MakeUseOf
Replacing your windows is an expensive endeavor. But after a certain amount of time, it makes sense for all homeowners to do so. This is because after 20-plus years, windows can start to fail. Condensation can build between the panes, meaning they aren’t providing the protection that you need.
Another way to feel is whether you feel a draft when you are near a closed window. If you do, then air is seeping into your house or heat is escaping. This lowers the temperature in the room, causing your heater to work harder to reach the temperature you’ve set it to.
The insulation for windows eventually wears down, so it’s important to pay attention to how it feels around the window. There are things that you can do to prevent losing heat through a drafty window. You can recaulk the edges if that is what’s causing the air to come through. Using silicone or a polyurethane sealant will not only last a long time, but it will survive in an environment with UV rays and water.
You can also install a window guard that acts as a barrier to keep cold air out and warm, heated air in. You can get ones that slide onto the window themselves, using the window’s downward momentum to its advantage.
Doors are a premium place for air to escape
I’ve had issues near my garage
Credit: Chris Hachey / MakeUseOf
There is a vent near the floor in the laundry room of my home. That room leads out to the garage. During the past few winters, you could walk by the heater and feel heat pumping onto your leg. But if you move a few inches to the right, you could feel cold air coming from the door.
It wasn’t properly sealed, and with the garage being particularly cold in the winter, the air was coming in. But not only was the air coming in, but that hot air from the vent was getting out. The room itself also has porcelain tile, so it’s generally a colder room.
The case for any door that leads outside to be scrutinized is obvious. They can get incredibly cold and the locks on the doors can even freeze. You can try the match test if you aren’t sure whether you have a drafty door, as it may not always be windy when you walk by it.
The match test works well on the sides of doors, as if you light a match and hold it near there, it can tell you whether air is coming by, forcing the flame to move around. If there is no air movement, the flame will generally remain still.
Using door guards underneath or on the sides of doors can help prevent air from coming in. Recaulking the door or replacing the door are other options, the former being much more cost-effective than the latter.
Seal these areas before cold air keeps coming in
Having a properly sealed home should be what we all strive for. But it can be hard to keep track of how well the insulation is in the attic and how well the windows and doors are sealed. It’s important to walk around your home and see where improvements can be made to prevent your bills from getting too out of control.
