13 Easy Ways to Winterize Your Home and Lower Your Utility Bills
It happens every year at my house: I wake up in the morning, and as if a switch had flipped during the night, it suddenly gets cold , and I have to search for cozy slippers. And that’s when I usually realize I haven’t taken any measures to prepare the house for winter.
If this applies to you, the good news is that preparing your home for winter isn’t all that difficult. With a few affordable supplies and a little effort, you can insulate your home and ensure maximum comfort when the cold winds blow .
Typically, your goal is to reduce cold air penetration into the room and improve the efficiency of your heating system. There are several simple, inexpensive, and easy ways to achieve this:
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Change the direction of your ceiling fans. If you have ceiling fans, you probably know that the direction they rotate matters. In winter, set them to rotate clockwise and run them on low speed. This will help direct warm air back toward the floor without creating a cold draft.
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Clean your gutters. If your gutters are clogged, water won’t drain effectively, causing ice dams, which can damage your roof (and your home’s interior). Before the temperature drops below freezing, get out your ladder and clean your gutters.
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Open/close the vents. Heating vents push warm air into rooms, but they can also allow cold drafts to circulate or warm air to escape when not in use. A few magnetic plugs allow you to close these vents, which can cause more harm than good by trapping warm air longer.
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Install door stops. No exterior door can provide a perfect seal, meaning cold air will leak in and warm air will escape. A door stop is a simple and convenient addition to any door that will prevent drafts.
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Apply weatherstripping. Rubber weatherstripping applied around door frames and windows will help seal small gaps that allow air to leak in and out. If that doesn’t work for you, there’s also weatherstripping tape, like this one , that can be applied directly to windows and door frames to prevent drafts and removed when the weather warms up again.
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Install protective caps on outdoor faucets. If you have outdoor faucets or valves, they should be protected with protective caps to prevent them from freezing and potentially damaging any plumbing pipes that may run inside the home, which could lead to costly damage.
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Install window film. It’s the simplest idea in the world, but it really works: cover your windows with film, heat it up, and voila— you’ve added highly effective insulation to what are essentially holes in your home. These window kits are quite easy to install and require only a hair dryer.
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Install a chimney cap. Chimneys and fireplaces can be prone to central drafts in winter. An inexpensive chimney cap is a simple and effective way to prevent drafts. If you have a fireplace that you don’t use often, a fireplace cap is also a great solution.
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Add some pipe insulation tubes. Frozen pipes are no fun. What’s more, they can be costly and dangerous, so now is the time to invest some time and money in insulating exposed pipes wherever they are. Foam insulation tubes are super easy to install (they’re pre-cut, so you can simply slide them on, secure them with adhesive, and cut them easily) and will save you from the nightmare of frozen pipes.
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Install protective covers on your air conditioner. If you have window air conditioners that you’ve decided to leave in for the winter, a simple and inexpensive protective cover will prevent cold air from entering your home, especially when combined with weatherstripping or weatherstripping around the window.
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Install thermal curtains. If you’ve installed weatherstripping and/or plastic film, but your windows still have drafts, thick thermal curtains will prevent drafts from entering the room and keep warm air from entering through cold windows, keeping the room warmer. Plus, they look nice and can hide all that film.
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Use attic stair insulation. If your attic is accessed via an extension ladder or stepladder, this is a serious weakness in your home’s insulation, as significant heat can escape through this opening. Attic stair insulation will seal this weak spot and eliminate another source of heat loss in the winter.
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Place a protective blanket on your water heater. Insulating your water heater is generally a good idea, as it can significantly save on energy costs . But in winter, a protective blanket becomes even more important, as your water heater is likely located in a fairly cold part of your home. Insulating it will allow you to get hot water for less money.