Cut your natural gas and utilities bills with these easy steps.

Sealing air leaks thru the ceiling, floor, and walls can result in real savings on your
electric and gas or heating oil bills. Stopping unwanted air leaks can be easier and
less expensive than one might guess.

Some utilities will come out to your house and do an energy audit for free. If yours
won’t you can hire a professional energy auditor – or save a few hundred bucks and
try it yourself.

Check for leaks first. The blower test will help you find the worst culprits in terms of
air leaks. If you have a whole house fan, close all your doors and windows and turn
on the whole house fan. Light a stick of incense and slowly walk around the walls
and windows.  When you see the incense blowing you’ve found a leak. If you don’t
have a whole house fan you can put a box fan – pointing to the outside – in any
window and make sure you have all the other windows and doors closed. This will
certainly be easier on a windy day!  When you turn on the fan ( make sure you have
a tight fit and there are no gaps on the sides of the fan ) it will act like the whole
house fan and cause a decompression of the air in your home. Use a lighted stick of
incense or sometimes you can feel the drafts with just your wet finger as you walk
along the exterior walls and windows. Be sure to check along the base board and
around any electric outlets or switches.

Do you have a chimney? Make sure the flue is closed when not in use. And check
around the edges of the chimney itself where the brick meets the wall. You may
need to add some caulk ( heat resistant ) there.

Just remember - Every dollar spent on  these improvements will be recovered
through lower electric and natural gas or heating oil bills for years to come.  Sealing
the numerous points in many houses where air can flow into or out of your house
can make your home more comfortable and keep money in your wallet year round!

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