As homeowners from colder parts of the country can attest, wintertime heating costs can be a beast. Depending on how cold your neck of the woods get, home heating bills are liable to eat up a significant portion of your monthly income. Still, if the only options are spending a ton of money and dealing with an uncomfortably cold home all winter, many people will be inclined to choose the former. However, contrary to popular belief, it’s possible to maintain a comfortably warm home without leaving a hole in your finances. Homeowners looking to make this a comfortable and cost-effective winter can benefit from the following pointers.
Patch Holes in Your Roof
Far too many homeowners neglect proper roof maintenance until impossible-to-ignore problems occur. Staying on top of roof maintenance is particularly important for people who live in areas with extreme weather. During the winter months, for example, roofing stands to incur a fair amount of damage from being subjected to constant moisture and buried beneath heavy mounds of snow. Among other problems, moisture and excess weight can result in warping and the formation of holes. If left alone long enough, both of these issues can result in massive roof damage – which stands to compromise the safety of everyone in your home and bleed you dry financially. Holes also provide cold outdoor air with a clear entrance into your home.
To nip roofing issues in the bud, make a point of having your roof professionally inspected at least once a year. A seasoned roofing professional will be able to spot any existing or emerging problems and take care of them in a timely manner. While these inspections may set you back a little, they ultimately stand to save you a fortune in repairs and home heating costs.
Upgrade Your Attic Insulation
Since your attic is the area of your home that’s closest to the roof, it’s also a prime spot for indoor air to exit and outdoor air to enter. Furthermore, in the absence of proper insulation, quite a bit of warm air stands to escape from your home, thus facilitating the need for your furnace or central heating unit to work extra-hard to account for the constant fluctuations in temperature.
So, if the insulation in your attic has seen better days, there’s no time like the present to upgrade. If you have little to no experience working with insulation, it’s probably a good idea to leave this task in the hands of a knowledgeable pro. Not only will this help protect you from potential safety issues, it will also ensure that your new insulation is properly installed and therefore maximally effective.
Seal Drafts in Your Windows
You could be losing a significant amount of warm air through your windows without even realizing it. Drafts in windows aren’t always readily apparent, so if you’re curious about whether your home’s windows are plagued by drafts, carefully inspect them one by one. Should you come across any drafts, take care to promptly seal them. Fortunately, when working to seal drafts, you’ll have no shortage of affordable options at your disposal. Weatherstripping, foam tape and window film are just a few of the cost-effective tools with which most drafts can be securely sealed.
Additionally, to prevent further warm air loss, consider outfitting your home’s windows with thermal curtains. Composed of thick thermal materials, these curtains are highly adept at sealing in warm air and keeping cold air at bay.
Winterize Your Bedroom
To help ensure that you’re able to stay nice and toasty throughout the night, you’ll need to winterize your bedroom. For starters, this entails investing in cold weather sheets, comforters and sleepwear. In the interest of maximizing your comfort, you may also want to consider upgrading any mattresses that are well past their prime. If you’re interested in doing right by the environment, for example, you should look into purchasing a good natural mattress.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a homeowner who relishes wintertime heating costs. If you hail from an area that’s known for bitterly cold winters, it’s reasonable to expect a noticeable increase in your utility bills throughout the cold weather season. Fortunately, while there’s no end-all solution for exorbitant heating costs, there are a number of ways you can make wintertime utilities more affordable.