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Simple Ways to Keep The Heat In Your Home
by Stuart Fendor
http://www.flheat.com
Amongst the most uncomfortable and awful things to face in a
freezing winter is a cold house. Spiraling energy bills
deter us from turning up the heat, and the alternative
appears to be to suffer in silence - the chattering teeth
does not allow silence. A quick analysis will tell you if
the system is producing heat efficiently or not, if
efficiency is not an issue then probably you are allowing
the heat to escape.
If your heat is turned up high, but you always feel chilled
anyway, you may have a problem with air leaks that are
letting the heat out and the cold in. Check each room of
your house; are some rooms colder than others? If you notice
that they are, try checking to see if any doors that lead to
the outside (as well as the windows in the room) seem to
have a draft.
If there are drafts, you can do several things to fix it.
Luckily, none of these quick fixes cost very much money.
One options is rope caulk. It can be an easy and great way
to seal up windows. It's very inexpensive and easy to apply
it. If the draft seems to be coming from underneath a door
try getting door sweeps or blockers, which are also very
inexpensive.
If you haven't noticed any drafts around doors and windows
then check out your chimney. If you have a chimney that's
open all winter long you may be letting heat escape and cold
air in. When your fireplace isn't in use be sure to close up
the chimney and you may notice a huge difference almost
immediately.
The sun is a free source of heat energy. With cooking and
heating implements in the market that are run on solar power
- why should we not use this great source to heat the home.
Therefore, if the sun is shining open up curtains to let it
in and see the amount of heat that is generated by such a
simple thing.
If rising energy costs are a concern but you still want a
toasty warm house, consider purchasing a programmable
thermostat. These inventions are brilliant. With a simple
setting you can automatically program the thermostat to
lower the temperature at night when you're in bed with
blankets. Then, program it to rise right before you wake up.
This way your house is nice and cozy, but you save a lot on
your heating bill. The cost of the new thermostat will pay
for itself in heat savings.
Heat may also be lost to an unfinished basement. You may
wonder how this can be if it's closed off from the rest of
the house, but where is your water heater? It may be losing
heat before it even gets into the rest of your house. You
can purchase inexpensive outer casings to protect heat loss.
Having tried all this, if the house continues to be cold,
then it is time to get the insulation checked. An expert
can check if the insulation is doing its job. Looking around
and shopping for different contractors could get you a good
deal that does not cost the roof. Good insulation is
instrumental in keeping the house warm and results in
reduced heating costs.
No one likes to be cold in the winter, but keeping your home
nice and heated doesn't have to cost you enormous amounts of
money. Try these tips and you might be surprised at the
difference it makes.
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