Serving Lee's Summit & Kansas City Areas Since 1971

Conserve Energy Without Compromising On Comfort with These Expert Tricks

Fixed Fast, Fixed Right

Even if you hadn’t been paying close attention, you’ve probably already noticed; trees are changing color, nights are getting longer, days are feeling cooler.

We’re in the middle of autumn, and once the parade of holidays hits, we’ll be in winter. It’s time to prepare yourself and your home for the season, but if you want to get more out of your heating system, we’ve got some tricks that can help you to save.

Insulate Your Windows If They’re Older

Not every home has the latest vinyl window frames with triple-pane glass that has a layer of argon gas insulating it from the cold.

But just because you don’t have that, doesn’t mean you can’t do something to make your windows less vulnerable to leaking heat out from your home. You can still improve performance, and it won’t cost you much!

Just go to a hardware store and buy yourself some window insulation plastic film. Stretch it across the windows in your home, then bound and tighten it by applying a source of hot air, like a hairdryer. Once it’s in place, it creates a layer of air that now protects your home from the heat making direct contact with cold glass and leaking out.

Apply Caulk to Old Window Frames

It’s not just new windows, but new window frames that can make a difference to your energy efficiency. And the same is true in a negative sense with old windows and old window frames, especially if they’re made of organic materials like wood.

If you’re not regularly inspecting your window frames before and after winter, it’s possible that rain, cold, the wind and even insects like ants and termites can damage it. Once your frames are damaged, this is another way that heat from your home can leak out, causing your furnace to work harder and for longer periods of time.

Caulk is another low cost, DIY alternative that blocks up cracks and breaks and restores some heat efficiency to your home, but only if you take the time to look at your window frames and find out where the breaks and defects are.

Use a Ceiling Fan If You Have It

This is an unusual solution and may seem counter-intuitive for winter energy savings, but it works! If you have a ceiling fan in your home, you may use it when it gets hot or perhaps not all if you’ve got central AC running through your residence.

But if you use your ceiling fan during the winter, with the proper adjustments, you can lower your heating bills. Everyone knows that a ceiling fan can cool you during the summer. It works by running at high speed in a counter-clockwise direction.

This sends cool air down onto the residents in a gentle “wind chill” effect that feels like a breeze in the home. In the winter, try reversing this process and run your fan at low speed, clockwise.

Now, instead of cooling the home, the fan pulls up that hot air, mixes it, and redistributes it throughout the room, rather than just letting it sit near windows and leak out. If you want to enjoy a warmer, more comfortable winter in Lees Summit, MO but you don’t want to see a big spike in your utility bills, try these tricks and see the difference!

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