Your Energy Diet - Home Tips Continued

Real catchy title for this post, isn't it. Well, catchy or not, the considerations here will make a difference in your energy bill, improve your wellbeing physically and mentally, and in due course, make your world healthy. Let's continue.

By this time, if you followed our advise, you have cut the drafts from the outside, and have insulated the attic. Before you leave the attic, don't forget to insulate the attic access. Also, make sure that there is no paper on the insulation next to heating ducts or chimneys. Heated paper can burst into flames after a period of being over heated.

If you have a basement, you need to insulate the basement ceiling and the basement walls. If you have a crawl space, that too needs to be insulated. Also, vapor barriers should be added. If you have windows in the basement, check them for air leaks and take the steps we mentioned in our earlier post for doors and windows.

Now if you haven't had a professional energy audit of your home, you need to have a professioal check out your furnace, cental heating, and A/C. You could do this yourself but we don't recommend this. You can go ahead and wrap all your ducts to reduce loss of heating or cooling. You should also wrap exposed water pipes.

On the exterior of your home, you should caulk around anything that "breaks through" your walls. This means windows, water pipes, and doors. Also, have a professional insulate around elecrical lines, central air/heating/air conditioning ducts. And, if you have a chimney, check out the bricks or stones to insure that cracks and loose material are repaired.

If any of your appliances need to be replaced, don't just grab the first thing that looks good. Study up on energy efficient appliances. Energy Star ratings are a good place to start. Also, that "special" at a very cheap price offered this weekend may be an energy guzzzler that the store is trying to get rid of. Don't continue to run old appliances if they are "on their last legs". You are just wasting energy and your money.

Won't everything we've talked about cost money? Yup, sure will. But, if you do what we have discussed (save for the appliances) yourself, the cost is for materials and your time. Sure, you may spend up to $1000 in materials, but saving a $100 each month in your power bill pays you back in less than a year and the rewards go on for many years.

Can you do this yourself? If your handy with your hands, absolutely. If your all thumbs, you can still do some things. Anyone can caulk. Anyone can replace light bulbs. And, most anyone can lay insulation in their attic. This is not rocket science. It's common sense. Get a home repair book at your local hardware store. Black and Decker, the tool company, published a great one. Buy a book, study it, determine what you can do, THEN DO IT! But don't get in over your head. Only do what you, yourself, can do. Hire a professional to do what you can't.

One last note. If you need a professional, check them out. Don't just hire the first one you find. See if your better business bureau has suggestions or your local hardware. Get someone that has an excellent reputation. Do your homework. You want a good job done at a reasonable price. If a high priced repair is suggested, get a second opinion by another reputable professional.