Stop leaks, turn down thermostat for energy-efficient winter

By Kristyne E. Demske
C & G Staff Writer

With the cold fingers of fall beginning to creep in, experts say it’s time for homeowners to find leaking holes and crevices in order to improve their home’s efficiency for winter.

“The key thing to start with … in Michigan homes is to start off by sealing up the air leakage,” said Jacob Corvidae, the green programs manager at WARM Training Center in Detroit.

Greg Oman, owner of Macomb Ace Hardware in Macomb Township, said he recommends doing a visual inspection of the exterior and interior of a home before winter hits.

“(Look) for any gaps or holes where either a caulk has failed or there is no caulk at all,” he said. “(Look) around windows … and also where your utilities enter the home.”

In spots where a homeowner finds gaps or cracks, he said a latex acrylic caulk — available in varieties that can be painted — can be used to fill in the spaces, preventing cold air from getting into the home.

“Caulk works for anything about up to a half-inch,” Oman said. “After that, if you’ve got a big hole that needs to be filled, there’s the expandable spray foam.”

Filling holes and cracks will also keep out vermin and water.

“Mice can get into a hole that’s less than a half-inch,” he said.

The spray foam is not as aesthetically pleasing, so Oman recommends that for areas that are not as visible.

“Caulk is the primary tool, without a doubt,” he said.

As for the inside, Oman said homeowners should check around windows and electrical outlets for drafts. Die-cast foam gaskets can be used to stop cold air from blowing in from electrical outlets on outside walls.

“Take off the plate, put these pieces of foam back in and put the plate back on,” he explained. “They’re precut pieces of foam that will fit over an outlet or a switch (and) helps to seal those areas.”

But while Corvidae said many people think about drafts coming into a home from windows, baseboards and outlets, drafts also may be letting heat out of a home.

“Any spot where there is a hole or cut of something going into the attic is really important to seal up,” he said. That includes places like light fixtures and the attic access door — “anything that might be letting hot air rise into the attic.”

Also, he said, “down in the basement, right around where the frame of the house sits on the foundation of the house is a really common place where people get air leakage.”

Corvidae said sealing air leaks will certainly cut down on heating bills, as will making
sure a home is properly insulated.

“Many of our homes aren’t,” he said. “You can probably just check by looking in the attic. A lot of older homes might only have a few inches and you want a foot (of insulation), typically.”

It’s hard to check the levels of wall insulation, however, and Corvidae said anyone thinking of investing money in a home should get an energy audit first. Macomb and Oakland county residents can take advantage of a program through Consumers Energy called Home Performance with Energy Star that provides an inexpensive energy inspection and access to rebates for work that needs to be done.

Plastic window insulating kits are popular for cutting down on drafts, but Corvidae said homeowners ought to make sure the window is sealed well on the edges before installing the plastic sheeting.

“Thoroughly seal leaks on an existing window … then put plastic up,” he said. “At that point now, you’ve got a pretty efficient window setup for having spent about $5.”

Even windows that need to be opened later can be made more efficient for the winter, he said. A product called rope caulk is available at most hardware stores and is pulled off like a string, then pushed into the leaking crack.

“You can leave it up for years, but if you want to open that window again in the spring, you can peel that caulk up again and use the window,” he said.

Oman said there are also plenty of products on the market for fixing leaks around a door, such as replacing the bottom door sweep to keep the cold air out when a door is closed.

In addition, using a “blanket” for the hot water heater and making sure to use pleated furnace filters that get changed every three months help those pieces of equipment run efficiently through the winter months, he said.

And Corvidae said switching to high-efficiency showerheads and using faucet aerators can cut hot water usage in half.

He said changing some behaviors could lead to energy savings, as well. Turning the thermostat down just one degree for an eight-hour time period will result in a 1 percent savings on a heating bill, he said.

“You don’t need to keep it at 70 for the dog or cat in the house — they have a fur coat,” he said.

At night, he said, use an electric blanket and turn down the thermostat for a solution that “costs very little money … compared with trying to heat up the entire house.”

Or invest in a space heater for the most heavily used rooms in a home.

“You can lower the temperature of your thermostat and bring in a space heater to the room that you’re in,” Oman said. “Why heat the entire house when you’re really only using two rooms? They’re very economical.”

Turning down the temperature on the hot water heater also saves energy, and money, Corvidae said.

“Most people, they have their hot water set … it gets so hot that you have to turn on a bunch of cold water just to use it,” he said, explaining that the hot water heater accounts for about 15-20 percent of a home’s utility bill for the year. “If you’re not heating that water up quite so much, you’re saving.”

He also recommends that everyone make the switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs. A typical light bulb costs just $1 at the store, but about $15 annually to run, while a compact fluorescent might cost about $5 initially, but lasts longer and can save about $10 in energy costs each year.

For more information and a free guide to “greening” your home, visit www.warmtraining.org.

Macomb Ace Hardware is located at 51254 Romeo Plank Road in Macomb Township. For more information, call (586) 786-9040.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Kristyne E. Demske at kdemske@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1041.