I live in Michigan, what things can I do durring the winter to make my house energy efficient yet stay warm?
Answer:
Get your house sealed up as well as you can with insulation. Call a professional insulation installer (I recommend Nu-Wool insulation, its made from recycled newspapers and is mold resistant). Adding another 6 inches of insulation to your attic can make a real difference. Since this is sprayed in place, it can also go in walls.
Also, next windy day, hold a candle up to your windows and doors, and see if there is any air blowing through them, making the light flicker. If so, you can caulk or replace windows. Put foam airstrips around doors. Light switches are often airholes. Stuff a little insulation behind the switches. If you live on the lake, put that shrink wrap style window covering over them. That helps alot on those big picture windows that get lake effect winds.
Try not to use the fireplace for heat. It actually sucks more air out of the house. If you like the warmth of the fire, (or have frequent power outages in snowstorms) get a freestanding natural gas fireplace. They can heat a large portion of your home, and need no electricity.
This winter, turn off heat registers in the rooms that aren't in use. If you have a two story home, and don't use the upstairs, you can even make a "trap door" that closes off the upstairs.
Get the most energy efficient furnace you can afford. There are really good high efficiency furnaces that will cut down on your energy usage. We had one installed, along with new ductwork, two years ago, and even with the increases in natural gas prices, we still have lower bills than ever before. We use about 1/2 the energy now than we did before. We are actually paid ahead on our gas bill (budget plan, we will get a month and a half free). If our 125 year old house can be this efficient, yours can too!
Most insulation and furnace contractors will do a free energy saving analysis for you, and show you how you can save. Take advantage of this. They have some really good ideas.
If you have older windows, be sure to put in those old storm windows. They do work.
Its worth taking out a equity loan to finance a new furnace and good insulation when you are in Michigan winters. Ours will be paid off in one more year (3 years total) mostly with the savings off what we used to pay for heat. Plus the air is so much cleaner. Oh, yeah, we had a built in humidifier put on the furnace, and that lets you turn down the thermostat about another 5 degrees and it feels just as warm. Plus no static electricity socks and shocks!
Solar panels and pellet stoves
3m makes window covers. They are a clear plastic shrink wrap that you put on the interior windows. I find this helps. I also close the drapes late afternoon. I live in Indiana where the winters are also cold. We put on sweatshirts before turning up the furnace. We also use afgans to put over our legs when reading or watching tv.
most heat is lost through windows so u can get clear peelable calk for leaks and get a heavy clear window plastc and cover ur window frames. menards has that stuff u need to get the calk by sept and go from there
Make sure there are no spaces between doors that are letting heat escape. You can put up that rubber stuff in between the crevices.
Turn down heat, and wear a sweater.
Buy appliances that are energy efficient.
Cover your windows with 3M wrap, wrap a heater blanket around your water heater, apply insulation stripping around all door frames, throw an extra layer of insulation in the attic, line your garage door with Styrofoam insulation, put adhesive door sweeps on doors that have more than a 1/2 inch of space, keep your thermostat at a lower temperature and wear a sweater, rely more on your fireplace for heat...
I worked in a very cold place that hardly heated the dorm building at all. When it got around -30 outside and wind was blowing through the single pane windows we had enough. We cut Centex sheets of insulation to fit the windows, then shoveled loads of snow up to the rafters outside. Dark, but suprisingly warm after that. If snow can keep an igloo warm, it can keep your house warm.
wool, caulk, insulate, efficient heat (consider wood stove), check your house for drafts and use that canned foam stuff. I have done this to nearly every house I've been in for the last 30 years and the savings adds up.
Have insulation blown into the exterior walls and ceiling. It's like free air conditioning in summer and free heat in winter.
It's pretty bad to have an airtight house. We cover the most leaky window with plastic and leave the rest be.
Ceiling fans help too.
If you have a big house, don't use the whole thing! My parents have a HUGE house. They turned an office off the kitchen/dining/living room into a bedroom and put up doors so they only heat or cool 3 rooms.
If you have a small house, invite company over. My house is tiny and well-insulated. Having 4 - 6 people over raises the temp by 6 - 10 degrees.
Fix any cracks in the foundation. They let in the cold air.
Cellular blinds are fairly expensive but are really good insulation. Amazing, really!
Energy efficient windows to keep the heat in, upgrade to a more energy saving furnace, solar panels.
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