I?m no contractor. I?m a writer and accidental fix-it maven trained by a broken-down house and empty purse to rely on myself.
Some of you may remember me from 2006 in BGE?s energy campaign “Simply Saving Energy with Allegra and BGE.” I?m thrilled to share knowledge, hear about your homeowner escapades, get answers to your questions and even field advice for romancing the plumber.
So let?s get busy.
If you want to save money on your utility costs this winter and also be comfortable at home, now is a good time to start inspecting the condition of key areas of your home.
You promised yourself in the heat of an unusually warm fall that you thought would never end, that you were going to do before it gets cold.
Well, it?s cold.
And you haven?t done it yet.
So let?s go.
Start with your windows, doors and chimney. These are perfect escape hatches for the comings and goings of warm and cold air.
The experts say if we add up all the gaps and cracks in the average house it would equal an opening the size of a window.
So, the obvious punch line to that point is homeowners are throwing money out the window.
This region has some of the oldest housing stock in the country.
The innards of these structures weren?t wrapped in Tyvek before the façade went on.
They let in a lot of cold in the days of yore leaving an energy-efficiency challenge for you in your day, assuming you haven?t done any insulation upgrades.
Are you with me?
Openings around door jambs and sills hairline cracks around window frames, a maladjusted sash, missing or badly cracked glazing compound (putty) around panes, the almighty missing or cracking exterior caulk, dampers left open when the fireplace is not in use ? these are the usual home-based suspects.
Fix them and maybe you?ll save at least 25 percent on your heating costs.
Though energy experts will offer minimum to dramatic percentages for your projected savings, those are approximations based on the so-called typical or average usage.
And what is average is relative.
Do your own comparisons. Look at your bills from this time last year, think about your habits then and now and you will get an approximation of what you are saving and what you are contributing to the carbon footprint.
The what?
The carbon footprint is what we humans release into the environment in greenhouse gas emissions as we live, breathe and utilize energy.
So spend about $100 and an afternoon ? OK, maybe a whole day ? and check the fireplace damper.
Apply a roll of felt or foam weather stripping outside around the door frame seams.
Recaulk the windows by digging out the old caulk rather than caulking over the old.
And this time, you might want to use a caulk with silicone because it will last for decades without needing a redo, according to the experts at GE ? the light bulb people ? who also make a silicone caulk and who by the way recently paid me to try out a couple of tubes.
Unlike water-based acrylic, the silicone is not water-based and experiences little to no shrinkage.
You couldn?t pay some homeowners to do a caulking job.
But, think of the savings in energy ? yours and the planet.
Take the time, and in the long run you will have paid yourself.
Allegra Bennett has covered cops, courts and politics as a journalist for national newspapers for 21 years. She is also the author of three books, publisher of Renovating Woman ? “The Do-It-Herself magazine” ? and is a home repair expert on “Home Made Easy” on the DIY cable network. Got questions? E-mail your question to [email protected]
