Saving for the Average Person: Winterize and save!

Weather proofing your home or apartment may sound like an expensive hassle, but trust me on this, it is worth it! You will save money on your energy bills and be oh so comfortable this winter!

I have been weather proofing our 80 year old, drafty house every fall since we moved in 7 years ago. The first year I bought those dainty plastic window kits that come in a pretty box. You know the ones with the nice looking person on the front using a blow dryer to make their plastic smooth and tight.

I learned really quick that while those kits are fine for one or two windows, I needed something more substantial. After all we have over 30 windows in our house! This was no job for a wimpy plastic that tore every time we looked at it wrong. Or shredded every time the cat decided to jump on it, thinking the darn window sill should not have disappeared!

So the next year I bought a big roll of 4 mm thick plastic and several rolls of double stick tape. It was the difference between night and day. No rips, no tears and most important no blow dryer! I could care less if our plastic is tight and smooth. All that matters to me is that is keeps out the northern Illinois winter! Plus one big roll is way cheaper than 30 boxes!

Now I will admit that at first it was kind of difficult putting up all that plastic, especially since my family never seemed to be around when I needed help.

Me: "Somebody, please come and help me with the plastic!"

All that could be heard was the rush of the wind sucking all the heat out of my house.

I quickly learned from that years mistakes. First and foremost I learned that plastic goes up a lot easier if it is warm in the house. Cold walls and tape are not conducive to fighting gravity. So the third year I bought all my plastic and tape as soon as they went on sale, which around here is late September, early October. By the first weekend in October half our windows are done. By the third week every window has plastic on it.

The next step is to make sure all your doors have tight seals. Every outside door should have a draft strip screwed to the bottom of it. Get down and look at your doors, you will be amazed at the gaps that can be down there that you never notice. Those draft strips will make a big difference in keeping the warm air in and the cold air out.

You can also take an old throw rug and place it against the door or sew up a long piece of fabric into a tube and stuff it. Every little bit helps!

Also adding weather stripping to the door frames is a good idea. Every door in our house has gaps or is crooked. 80 years of gravity has done it's job. Most of the thick weather stripping I find, does not work. Why? Because our doors won't close properly. If they door won't close what's the point?? But this year I found something called Weather stripping tape. It is a "v" shaped plastic strip that folds in on itself when you close the door, filling in those small gaps. Plus it is cheap. I did 2 doors for about $2.50


After all your plastic is up and all your doors are sealed, walk through your house from top to bottom. Find every hole, crack or gap and fill it. You can fill small holes with expanding foam that can be bought at any hard ware store. But take care, the stuff really blows up big. A little dab will do ya! Larger holes can be filled with pieces of insulation. Like the holes in our basement where the plumbing was redone.

Adding insulation to your attic is a huge way to save money and keep your house warmer. We finally added 500 sq. ft. of blown in R-60 to a depth of 15 inches in our attic. The difference over night was amazing! Our second floor barely gets any heat because our thermostat is down stairs and the vents are few and far between. Heck the hall doesn't even have a vent! Now it feels 10 degrees warmer up there! I can not wait to see how our gas bill drops now!

Another big heat sucker is chimneys. I discovered a product called a Chimney Balloon on line. Basically it is a heavy duty plastic bag that inflates in your chimney blocking out drafts. It easily deflates when you want a fire. It costs about $60 with shipping. (but I have seen them for up to $100)

Ok, so you have the basics...

Plastic,

Double stick tape

(This year I found a new item!! Plastic stick channels that you snap plastic into! The channels stay up all year, you just put the plastic up and down..no more tape to deal with every year! Get them at walmart for about 6 bucks a package!)

Weather stripping for all your doors, including bottoms.

Flue blocker

Insulation if needed(you know you need more!)

Other small things you can do:

Make sure everyone has a sweat shirt handy. Wearing layers will keep you warmer and thermostat down.

Throw rugs if you have hard wood floors.

Extra blankets for every bed.

Throw blankets on the couch and chairs.

Keep warm everyone and enjoy those energy savings!

Mandi G. Money correspondent gather.com

Northern, IL.