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By: Edna Schack

There have been several mornings lately with an autumn chill in the air - even a bit of frost on a couple of days. That’s a reminder that it is time to get your home ready for winter. Since the column on energy audits, insulation and R-factors (The Morehead News, Sept 26, 2008) or ( www.frontierhousing.org/energy1008.htm ) several of you stopped me in local restaurants and stores to let me know you, too, had made the call to your energy provider to request an energy audit. That’s great news! If you haven’t gotten around to the audit yet, you can do some simple things in the meantime to weatherize your home to save energy and energy costs. In fact, October 30 is National Weatherization Day.

As I stated in the above-mentioned column, good insulation in the ceiling, floors and walls of your home can go a long way in providing greater energy efficiency. Don’t wait until you can afford new insulation, though, to seal the leaks and drafts around doors, windows and in ductwork. Much energy can be lost through such leaks. That is why Frontier not only provides ENERGY STAR qualified levels of insulation in their homes, but also makes certain that windows, doors, and ductwork are free from leaks. Here’s an interesting comparison made by Josh Garskof in This Old House magazine, “…a tiny 1/8-inch gap around a typical entryway door is the equivalent of drilling a 5 1⁄2-inch-diameter hole through an outside wall…” (Incredible, I thought, but I did the math and this might actually come closer to a 6” diameter hole!)

It is possible, with an infrared camera, to detect the leaks and drafts in your home. Realistically, though, most of us don’t have access to this tool. A visual check will show many leaks and on particularly cold days, you can feel the drafts that result from less visible leaks. Close gaps around doors with weather-stripping on the sides and top of doors and a door sweep along the bottom edge. Caulk or spray foam can be used to close gaps around anything that penetrates an outside wall, for example around a dryer vent duct, cable and phone lines, or pipes. Weather-strip around moveable parts of windows.

Ductwork that carries warm or cool air throughout your home is also a potential loser of energy, especially if your ductwork runs through a crawlspace or attic. You can check for leaks at duct joints by mixing a little dish soap with water and wiping a thin film over the joint. If you see bubbles, there is a leak. Use aluminum duct tape or fiber-reinforced mastic duct sealant to wrap the joint.

One area where you want the air to move freely is through your furnace filter. Check your filter every month and clean or change it to enable your furnace to run more efficiently. Your furnace manual should provide instructions or check out the following:
http://www.ehow.com/how_116602_clean-replace-furnace.html

There are multiple sources on the Internet to help guide you in making your home more energy efficient. Two examples: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=diy.diy_index  and http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4283724.html

Area low-income households can seek help to weatherize your home and make it more energy efficient through your local Community Action Agency. In addition, if you are a low-income household having trouble meeting your energy bills the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) begins November 3rd. Income guidelines are available at http://www.communityactionky.org/Default.aspx . If you don’t have a computer, many public libraries have internet-accessible computers available for use.

Most of us are probably aware of the energy savings we can get by sealing leaks and drafts in our homes, but National Weatherization Day is a good opportunity to remind us to close the gaps.

By Edna O. Schack, MSU Professor on sabbatical with Frontier Housing,
Fall 2008
 

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