It’s the winter season, and we can already feel it in the air. Literally! It’s cold out and you might as well spend the entire Holidays cozying up in your home with a hot cup of cocoa. For sure, you will need all the warmth you can get as the temperature continues to dip. That said, you will need to improve your home heating system to keep your energy costs down without freezing over.
For sure, you will need to apply the right approaches to optimize your heating. With a few tweaks here and there, you can definitely make your home warm without having to worry about shouldering a hefty bill.
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Let’s look at some of the tips you need to improve your home’s heating system:
Weatherstrip your windows and doors
The first thing you will need to do is to ensure that gaps on your doors and windows are properly sealed to keep the draft out. You will need to weatherstrip these entry points using the right materials. For this, you may choose either an adhesive or tape which you can install on the gaps.
For your doors, you may want to choose a vinyl weatherstrip, which is very useful in keeping most of the cold air from seeping under the threshold. You may also consider an aluminum frostbreak which you can install under the door. For windows, you may choose inexpensive materials such as felt and non-porous tape. Though these don’t last just as long as other weatherstripping materials, they can still do a fairly good job in keeping warm air in.
Use thicker curtains
As an added reinforcement to weatherstripping, you can replace your curtains with heavier fabrics such as wool. These are very useful, especially during the night time when cold drafts can spill through the tiniest gaps and cracks on your window.
That being said, you may want to consider curtains that can serve as an extra layer of insulation that keeps most of the warm air from escaping. If you don’t have such curtains at hand, you can always make use of old rugs or carpets which you can cover your windows with.
Provide added insulation
The best thing about prefabricated homes is not only the intelligent design, but also the materials used to assemble them. In this sense, The parts are already insulated with the right R-values, which frees homeowners from adding any more in terms of insulation.
Still, it’s possible you can make your home just as efficient in heating as modular homes. It’s only a matter of installing additional insulation to areas such as the basement and the attic. There are various options you can consider, such as fiberglass, spray foam, and cellulose. A good rule of thumb is to find a greater R-value for our attic and garage.
Install a programmable thermostat
To make sure your home is properly heated, you may want to install a programmable thermostat which adjust automatically to indoor conditions and to different times of the day. Another great feature is “zoned heating” which allows you to adjust temperatures in selected areas.