As another holiday season draws to a close, inevitably most of us find ourselves in debt. Whether you overspent on Christmas presents for the family or decided to take that holiday trip to Paris, most Americans begin the new year in debt! So how do we get out of debt? Well, we could put in more hours at work or even get a second job. While I know these ideas warm your heart, working more hours doesn’t exactly sound fun!
If working more hours at a job you dislike in the first place describes your sentiment, I have your answer. Help your house work smarter, not harder. Home improvement projects not only improve the look of your home, they can lower your utility bills and save you a lot of money. Here are 5 areas in your home that are costing you too much money…
1. Attic Insulation
- If your home was built prior to 2000, chances are it is under insulted. Most Michigan homes are currently insulated using the old 1970 building code of r19. R19 means that it takes 19 minutes for 1 degree of temperature to escape or penetrate through your attic space. As you can see, the higher the r-factor the better your insulation. By increasing your insulation from r19 to r49 (current building code) you will both improve the comfort of your home while lowering your utility bills. The U.S. Department of Energy agrees that as much as 40% of your home’s energy loss is due to an under insulated attic space. Just by adding more insulation to your attic, you can save as much as $1,000 a year!
2. Doors
- When was the last time you changed the entry doors in your home? If the answer is never, you are not alone. An incredibly small percentage of Michigan homeowners have never changed their entry doors. If your current entry doors don’t fit snugly into their frames, you may find yourself spending your hard-earned money to heat the frigid outside. We all know that warm air moves to the coldest place in your home. Faulty entry doors allow Mother Nature’s cold air to invade your pocketbook. Over time, the largest gaps usually appear at the bottom of the door. If you notice a draft there, you’ll either need to replace the door or seal the gap. Today’s custom-made entry doors are professionally sealed preventing little to no energy loss!
3. Chimneys
- Nothing warms the heart on a cold Sunday afternoon in Michigan quite like a beautiful roaring fire. While a natural or gas fireplace can provide extra warmth beyond your furnace heat, they can also lead to energy loss over time. When your fireplace is not in use, consider plugging it up. Through the Summer months, an unplugged chimney can leak air out of your house through the fireplace flue. As a way of preventing this energy loss, consider installing a laminated “chimney balloon” to block air from getting in or out of the flue. Just remember to take the balloon out before you start using your fireplace next Winter!
4. Light Bulbs
- If you have kids in your home, your electric bills are probably high! Between lights that are left on for days or the radio they need playing to fall asleep, our electric bills are higher than ever. While we will never get our kids to always turn out the lights when they leave a room, there is one simple step that can save you a lot of money over the course of a year. Sure, LED light bulbs are more expensive than their incandescent counterparts, but if you can get over the initial investment, the energy-saving will more than make up for it. Compared to incandescent bulbs, LED lights will save you around 80% on your electrical power use. That is an enormous saving over the life of a LED bulb which can push close to 25 years!
5. Windows
- Are you happy with the windows in your home? I ask this question to every customer I sit down with and the answer is almost always, “No!” Residential replacement windows have changed incredibly over the past decade. If the windows in your home are older than 10 years, they are almost surely under performing when it comes to energy savings. While old single pane windows are pretty to look at, they just don’t have the technological ability to fully insulate the way today’s quality windows do. As much as 30% of your home’s energy loss is due to poorly insulated windows. While window replacement is no small project, almost every homeowner who undertakes this improvement doesn’t regret the investment.
Wasting money is no fun! By taking a few simple steps with your home this year, you can start saving money and begin living the good life!
This article has been written by the publishing staff at Pure Energy Window Company. We are Family Owned and Operated replacement window company servicing all of Southeastern Michigan and Lansing.
If you are considering replacing the windows in your home, give Pure Energy a call today. Call (248) 446-6100 or click on the link below to get started!
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