Have an old home that you have been thinking of renovating but just can’t get around to making the decisions necessary to make that happen? Are your heating bills high and wondering how you can save a few dollars until that dream project happens? Try some of these inexpensive cost reducing tips for your old drafty home to improve the looks of your monthly energy bill;

1. 1. Check your attic and see if it can use another layer of insulation and make sure the access panel or pull-down stair is fully insulated. Many times that access opening is neglected and you can have heat escaping up and out of your home.
2. 2. Another popular escape route for heat is your wood burning fireplace. Are you using it or is it just there for decoration. If the latter look into methods of making it more leak proof by using something like a “fireplace draft stopper”.
3. 3. Are you like me and enjoy a nice long hot shower? Open that bathroom door while you are showering rather than turning on your ceiling fan. This will add humidity to your home which heat loves to cling to.
4. 4. Check your exterior wall outlets! Do you feel a draft coming through them? Easy enough to unscrew the cover plate and fill the voids with an acrylic latex or a foam sealant and then add a foam gasket to the back of the plate cover and screw back on!
5. 5. Open up your blinds covering your southern exposure windows during the day. The natural warmth of the sun will fill your home.
6. 6. Are your windows and doors drafty? Take a trip to Home Depot, Loews or your favorite local hardware store and see what great gaskets and air seals you can get to cut down on those drafts.
7. 7. Do any of your rooms have fans? Flip the switch and reverse the direction of the fan to blow up at a gentle speed. This will move the warm air trapped at the ceiling down to your feet making you more comfortable without turning up the thermostat.
8. 8. Speaking of thermostats TURN THEM DOWN if you are able to tolerate a room with a little less warmth you will save yourself some green! If you have multiple zones in your home and rooms are unused double check what setting your thermostat is at. Especially at night when you can get under a warm down blanket and sleep on some flannel sheets turn down the thermostat. You might even sleep better!
9. 9. Bundling up! Do you have a nice pair of warm socks and a sweater? Put them on so when you do turn down that thermostat it won’t even impact your day.
10. 10. If you have a room you spend most of your time in why not just invest in a low energy space heater to keep you comfortable without heating the whole house.

These items should hold you over until you get started on the big renovation project where you will eventually get a more energy efficient heating system, brand new insulated windows and more insulation on in those exterior walls! Just because spring starts March 20^th doesn’t mean the heat gets turned off!