Fall and Winter Tips for
Energy Savings at Home
As the sunlight mellows and nature's autumn garland of colour
spreads south across the land, it's time to heed the call to prepare
for winter by making sure your home and motor vehicle are ready for
the cold months ahead and by taking measures to reduce waste and
improve energy efficiency.
Low temperatures and long winter nights increase energy
consumption rates dramatically. Energy costs put the chill on family
budgets everywhere. |
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Unfortunately, most of us are paying more than
we should to keep our homes warm and comfortable in winter, because
a lot of what we use is wasted. Whether you live in a house or an
apartment, own or rent, there are a full range of simple,
cost-effective measures you can take to cut energy costs and improve
the wintertime comfort of your home.
Where to start? NRCan's Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) can
help. The OEE has several programs that are helping to increase the
energy efficiency of new and existing homes, appliances, heating and
air conditioning equipment, lighting, office equipment and private
vehicles. Although we are making progress, more can be done. The
simple and easy measures we can all take will go a long way to
reduce the toll of energy waste on our family budgets and on the
environment.
Our Fall and Winter Tips presents ideas to help you save money
and make your home a warm and thrifty refuge from winter's icy
blast. You'll also find out how to reduce fuel and maintenance costs
by taking the time to prepare and tune up your motor vehicle for
winter.
Saving Money on Your Heating
Bill
(N.B. figures from Energy Efficiency Trends, Breakdown of
Energy Consumption)
Did you know that heating accounts for 60 percent of total
at-home energy use? There are big savings to be had in making sure
your heating system is operating at peak efficiency. In fact, our
homes waste more energy due to badly sealed and insulated windows
and doors than the energy output of the Darlington and Pickering
Nuclear Plants combined.
Your heating system is more than a furnace or a series of
electric radiators. It not only generates heat, it delivers measured
quantities of heat throughout your home. Even a state-of-the-art
high-efficiency furnace will cost more than it should to operate in
a house that is drafty and poorly insulated.
Household hot water supply is the second largest energy user in
the home, and in an exceptionally energy-efficient house the water
heater can consume more energy than space heating. There are several
simple steps you can take to cut the cost of hot water
significantly.
Heating Bill Savings-The Outdoor House
Inspection
The exterior of your home is your first defence against the
elements. You'll want to make sure your exterior building envelope
is ship-shape for fall.
- Walk slowly around the perimeter of your house to look for
troublespots. Pay special attention to:
| ___ |
Gaps and cracks
around exterior light fixtures, outdoor taps and other
through-the-wall openings. |
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Exhaust vents-make
sure they are in good condition and operating freely; clean
out accumulated dirt and lint. |
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Storm/exterior
windows-confirm that every window is in place and that all
caulking around windows and doors is in good condition where
frames meet the brick or siding. |
| ___ |
Exterior
cladding-repair any damage promptly to prevent water
penetration into the structure. |
| ___ |
If you have safe
access to the roof, inspect the chimney flashing to ensure
it is tight fitting and in good condition. Be sure to wear
non-slip footwear and to secure yourself off with a strong
rope to prevent falls. |
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Examine the chimney
for loose brick, mortar, structural integrity. |
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Check flashing around
all skylights, rooftop vents, plumbing risers. |
| ___ |
Confirm that all
eavestrough gutters and downspouts are fully functional and
run off water away from the foundation
wall. |
Seal all gaps and cracks around fixtures,
openings, door and window frames with exterior caulk.
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Use roof caulk to seal flashing around
chimneys, skylights, rooftop vents, plumbing risers.
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Arrange for chimney repairs to be completed in
the fall, before winter freeze-up.
Heating Bill Savings-The Indoor House
Inspection
Never underestimate the power of a draft. A 1/4-inch gap at the
bottom of an exterior door has the effective cooling power of a hole
four inches square in the middle of a wall. A well-insulated,
well-sealed house keeps cold air out, warm air in and controls
moisture. Even a small investment in time and money can make your
home more comfortable and make a big difference in your heating
bills.
- It's easy to check your home for airtightness and to identify
places that require attention. Start at the top of your house and
work your way down.
Attic
Safety Tip: Avoid the discomfort of direct contact with
fibreglass insulation and high levels of airborne particulates. Suit
up in safety eyeglasses, coveralls, gloves, a cap and a light-duty
dust mask before you begin your attic inspection.
Good sealing in the attic is especially important. Heated air can
escape from your home into the attic in several
ways:
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Gaps around air vents,
ducts, plumbing vent stacks, chimneys and electrical wiring
penetrating the attic from the rest of the house. Be thorough
in your inspection, even the smallest gap can cause frost or
ice to form in very cold weather when warm humid air escapes
into the attic. |
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Wall plate
junctions. |
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Attic doors and
entrances that are not well insulated and
weatherstripped. |
While in your attic, check that the roof joists,
rafters and sheathing are dry. Be on your guard for signs
of excessive moisture and condensation that could signal serious
air-leakage problem.
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Confirm that the air/moisture barrier is in good condition and
that ventilation is adequate.
Above-Ground Living Areas
- Conduct a systematic draft-search in the above-ground living
areas of your home with a candle on a windy day. Focus your search
on drafts caused by gaps in and around:
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Light fixtures and pot
lights penetrating ceilings and walls. |
| ___ |
Bulkheads and dropped
ceilings. |
| ___ |
Poorly-fitted
window-frames and sills. |
| ___ |
Exterior doors, storm
doors and door frames. |
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Light switches and
electrical sockets on exterior walls. |
| ___ |
Bathroom and kitchen
exhaust vents. |
| ___ |
Baseboards, cove
mouldings and other interior trim. |
| ___ |
Plumbing pipes,
especially sink pipes and drains penetrating into outside
walls. |
| ___ |
Window air
conditioners. |
| ___ |
Wood-burning fireplaces
and stoves. |
Basement and Crawl Space
- Look for drafts and gaps in your basement and crawl space. Pay special attention to:
| ___ |
The sillplate between
the floor joists and the basement wall. Next to your attic,
this may be the point of greatest heat loss in your house,
especially if wood framing is in direct contact with
concrete. |
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Basement windows, doors
and frames. |
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Electrical, cable
television and telephone cable entry points. |
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Furnace
ducts. |
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Water service, floor
drain and plumbing stack entrances. |
| ___ |
Cobwebs, a sure sign of
drafts. |
back
to the top
Taking Action In Your Home
Once you've identified where the drafts are located in your
house, take action. Caulk and seal all
penetrations into your house. Use heavy-duty
caulking and apply thick beads of caulk around gaps in
the attic, and at the junction between the basement wall and the
house. Use insulating foam to seal gaps larger than 1.27 cm (1/2
inch) across. Paintable caulking will work well around
window-frames, sills and other high-visibility items. Clear silicone caulk will be almost invisible in
places that will not bepainted, such as the floor-baseboard
junction. Peel-off caulk can be used to seal gaps
temporarily.
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The floor of your attic should have at least 10 inches of fibreglass insulation (or equivalent).
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Insulate exhaust fan ducts passing through the
attic to control ice accumulation and backdripping.
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Install weatherstripping on drafty doors and
windows. Storm doors and windows should have
weatherstripping on all moveable joints.
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Single-use stretch-seal, heat-shrink plastic sheeting kits for windows are an inexpensive and easy stop-gap
measure to seal up warped or single-glazed windows and patio
doors. Magnetic-acrylic interior storms are a
more expensive but reusable alternative. Install insulating window
blinds on persistently drafty or cold windows.
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Low-cost, high-density foam gaskets are
available to seal light switches and electrical sockets.
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Expanding foam insulation can be used to fill
up large gaps in walls. For maximum effectiveness, however,
insulating foam must be applied before the weather turns cold.
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Use duct mastic to seal gaps in heating ducts
and flues.
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Window air conditioners are conduits for cold
air and should be removed, cleaned and put into winter storage.
Where this is not possible, the unit should be encased with a
thick layer of fibreglass insulation and sealed with polyethylene
sheeting and duct tape to keep out moisture.
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Good furnace maintenance is important. Clean
or replace your furnace filters regularly throughout the heating
season. Filters will need to be changed more frequently in homes
with furry pets. Arrange for your heating contractor to inspect
and service your furnace before the heating season begins.
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Turn down the thermostat when going to bed or
when you will be active around the house. Make full use of your
own energy to stay warm. The savings can be substantial, up to 10
percent with a nightly setback of 4°C. Programmable
thermostats can be used to adjust temperature settings up
to several times per day according to a pre-set schedule.
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Fireplace dampers should be tight-fitting and
kept tightly closed when the fireplace is not in use. Glass doors
offer increased protection against drafts.
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Set the temperature setting on your hot water
tank at 49°C (120°F) if you wash dishes by hand, 60°C
(140°F) if you have a dishwasher without a hot water booster
heater.
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Wrap your hot water tank in a thermal blanket to reduce heat loss. Insulate the hot water pipes as much as
possible to minimize radiation heat loss.
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The next time a hot water serviceperson comes to call, arrange
to have a heat trap installed on the hot water
outlet pipe to stop hot water from rising up the pipe
unnecessarily.
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A household of four people taking daily five-minute showers
consumes a lifetime supply of drinking water for one person every six months. Low-flow showerheads and tap
aerators will cut that figure in
half.
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