Reduce Your Heating Bills This Winter - Overlooked Sources of Heat Loss in the Home

Imagine leaving a window open all winter long ? the heat loss, cold drafts, and wasted energy! Well if your home has a folding attic stair, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home!

These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause your heat pour out and the cold outside air pour in ? costing you higher heating bills, causing cold drafts, and wasting energy.

Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. We apply caulk and weatherstripping to these areas to minimize heat loss and cold drafts.

But what can you do about the three largest "holes" in your home ? the folding attic stair, the fireplace, and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.

Attic Stairs:

Do you have a folding attic stairway in your house? When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet!) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed. And what is installed to cover this opening? A thin, unsealed, un-insulated sheet of plywood!

Did you know that your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors? In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood!

Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night when it is dark, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door - do you see any light coming through? These are gaps - which add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year! This is like leaving a window open all year round!

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.

Fireplaces:

Approximately 100 million homes in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers!

Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing! One remarkable research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating energy consumption by 30%!

A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter just due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces!

Why Does a Home With a Fireplace Have Higher Heating Bills? Hot air rises! Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when your warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw - sucking the heated air from your house. This is like leaving a window open all year round!

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. A fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.

Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts:

Have you ever noticed that the room containing your clothes dryer is the coldest room in your house? Ever wonder why? Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house, while your heated air just pours right out!

Dryer vents use a sheet metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open. This is like leaving a window open all year round!

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal! A dryer vent seal will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint, and moisture to escape.

If your home has a folding attic stair, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes. At Battic Door, we have developed low-cost, green solutions to these and other energy-conservation related issues. For more information please visit our website www.batticdoor.com or send a S.A.S.E. to P.O. Box 15, Mansfield, MA 02048.

We manufacture and distribute low-cost, high-value, air-leakage control energy conservation products for the three largest intentional openings in the house - the fireplace, the clothes dryer exhaust duct, and the pull-down attic stair.

Our customers are homeowners, weatherization firms and programs, municipals, utilities and contractors. We also sell our product at a wholesale discount to distributors.

---

Conservatory Planning Permission in the UK

It is quite unusual in the UK for a new... Read More

How to build an energy-efficient home

There are just a few important things to know and... Read More

A Carefully Planned Outdoor Kitchen is Worth the Investment

Do you have any idea how popular outdoor kitchens are... Read More

I Need What Part?

One of the first things you learn as a homeowner... Read More

Get Rid Of Air Pollution In Your Home With House Plants

Do you know that formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas can... Read More

Single Pane Glass Repair in an Aluminum Frame, Part 2

This week we are going to continue our series on... Read More

Interconnects for Your Audio/Video System - Choosing The Proper Cables

Research & Development I began designing audio and video interconnect... Read More

Feng Shui Tips For Your Home Office

Did you know that over 50% of women now run... Read More

Marble Information

Marble is any limestone or dolomite that can take a... Read More

Help With Buying A New Ceiling Fan

When you are choosing a new ceiling fan there are... Read More

5 Questions To Ask Before Starting Any Home Improvement Project

1. What experience does your contractor have with this type... Read More

Contractor Referral

"As a contractor with 16 years of experience and speaking... Read More

Wholesale Vinyl Flooring Is Perfect For Wherever You Need It

Wholesale vinyl flooring is the perfect solution for people who... Read More

Microwave Convection Ovens - Double Benefits

Microwave convection ovens have both microwave and convection facilities. Microwave... Read More

Chimney Cap Checklist: Four Quick Ways to Evaluate Your Existing Chimney Cap

While you are cleaning leaves out of your home's gutters,... Read More

Different Materials Used for Roofing and Determining the Cost of Each One

There is never a structure you will find that lacks... Read More

Are Your Ducts Making You Sick?

If you have a heating or cooling systems that uses... Read More

Chairs, Rocking Chairs and Other Comfortable Places To Park It!

A chair is one of the best inventions ever made.... Read More

Types of Table Saws

A table saw is one of the most popular pieces... Read More

Building Your Own Home

Most people think building their own home involves vast knowledge... Read More

House Plans ? Where To Start

You have found the perfect lot on which to build... Read More

Help Choosing Door and Window Hardware

Who would be the best person to help you find... Read More

You Say Jacuzzi and I Say Whirlpool

What's in a name? Whirlpool baths have been around forever,... Read More

Wallpaper Doesnt Just Cover...It Defines The Room

Wallpaper is often overlooked as a key part of an... Read More

Upholstery Fabric Will Give Your Furniture a New Look!

Upholstery fabric will put some new life into your old... Read More

Home Automation Enhances Your Lifestyle and Saves Money - Exciting Home Automation Applications

Wouldn't it be nice to have your home take care... Read More

Unique and Imaginative Wall Storage Ideas

Everyone can use more organization in their lives (except those... Read More

Lighting and your Kitchen - How to Design a Lighting Plan that Cooks!

Your kitchen, more than any other room in your home,... Read More

CCTV for the Home

Securing your property is one of the growing domestic issues... Read More

Cleaning House and the 80-20 Rule

Cleaning house is one of those things that needs doing... Read More

Vinyl Replacement Window Terminology

With so many homeowners in the market for more energy... Read More

Beautiful, Elegant Bathtubs that Spruce Up any Bathroom

Bathtubs have become an important necessity of our daily life... Read More

Easy To Follow Tips For Keeping Energy Costs Down

When it comes to cooling our homes and businesses, the... Read More