To reduce your energy usage and your utility bills throughout the year, it’s smart to take the time to weatherize your home. It doesn’t have to cost a lot to lower your heating and cooling load, and the results are long-lasting. 

Here are five easy ways you can weatherize your home:

1. Add more insulation. Check your attic and see if there’s room between or on top of the joists for more insulation. Insulation is a long-term and cost-efficient way to weatherize your home. You can use batt insulation or blown-in. For many, adding more is a do-it-yourself project.
2. Cover the windows. Closing the drapes helps when the sun hits a window, but shade screens can cut the cooling load even more. Some shade cloth blocks up to 90 percent of the heat entering your home through sunny windows. The heat transfer from single-pane windows can be as much or more than that coming from your roof.
3. Change your lights to LEDs or CFLs that emit less heat than incandescent bulbs. Not only do these reduce heat in your home, they also save you energy and last much longer.
4. Seal air leaks. Find where air comes inside by looking at the seal between the window frame and your home’s exterior. If you see cracks or gaps, seal them with exterior caulk. Check your exterior doors and look for light between the door and frame. Use weatherstripping to close the gaps. Check the places where pipes, cables and wires enter your home and plug them with caulk, expanding foam or insulation.
5. Check your ductwork. Small leaks or holes in the ducts create considerable cooling losses. If your ducts are insulated, you may need to contact an HVAC contractor who can check and seal the problem areas. If you can find them yourself, use mastic to seal them, not duct tape, whose adhesive is short-lived.

Smoky Mountain Heating & Air provides HVAC services to Asheville area homeowners. We will be happy to help you weatherize your home by tending to your ducts and taking care of other HVAC maintenance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about weatherizing your home and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Smoky Mountain Heating & Air services Asheville, North Carolina and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!