Weatherizing

Make your home more cozy and save money!
Letting cold air creep into your home or apartment from the wintery outdoors, or hot  air billow in during the summer, can cost you hundreds of dollars each season in  energy bills. Did you know that as much as 15% of your heating and cooling energy  escapes from a home that is not tight?

What simple things can you do?

• Find where the air is coming into your home. Hold a tissue or a lighted stick of  incense near exterior door, windows or electrical outlets. If the tissue or smoke  flutters, there’s a draft and an air leak.

• Use weatherstripping tape or felt to seal around doors or windows (available at  hardware or home repair stores).

• Put plastic over windows that are not insulated windows. One easy way is to buy  inexpensive kits that have clear, heavy plastic and a ziplock type seal, so they can                                                                                 be reused from year to year.

• Put foam covers in electrical outlets and switch plates (available at hardware or home repair stores).

• Caulk larger gaps around doors and windows. A helpful chart about various caulks can be found at pueblo.gsa.gov/civ_text/housing/weather/weather

• Add rugs.

• Re-glaze windows that have broken putty holding the glass.

• Use door snakes to block drafts around door thresholds.