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Weatherproof Your Home: Tips For This Winter

Weather Proof

First Posted: 01/18/11 02:29 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:25 PM ET

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Mother Nature Network:

Although fiddling around with water heater blankets and foam outlet gaskets isn't the sexiest way to spend a weekend, they'll help you stay warm and save money this winter. Now that's sexy.

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Although fiddling around with water heater blankets and foam outlet gaskets isn't the sexiest way to spend a weekend, they'll help you stay warm and save money this winter. Now that's sexy.
Although fiddling around with water heater blankets and foam outlet gaskets isn't the sexiest way to spend a weekend, they'll help you stay warm and save money this winter. Now that's sexy.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cabinetmaniac
"Without a struggle, there can be no progress. "
1006 Fans
02:15 PM on 01/20/2011
While the recommendations are good they are far from exhaustive.

Every hole in the wall or ceiling is a potential energy loss. That means every fixture, switch, duct, etc..

Every exterior opening is a potential energy loss. Every door, every window, every vent, doggie door, etc..

The way professionals find problems is to pressurize the house and then follow the drafts with smoke. You can do this yourself. Place a box fan in an exterior door pointed into the house and seal the rest of the opening with plastic and tape. Turn it on. This will pressurize the house. Now go around the house with an incense. The smoke will drift toward leaks.

Once you find the leaks seal them with caulk, insulation, weatherstrip, etc..

Appropriate insulation in your attic and walls is also advised though this will prove more expensive than a tube of caulk.

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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
babyboomerorig
We are women, hear us roar!
474 Fans
10:34 AM on 01/19/2011
This should have been out in late Oct./early Nov. We've had 5 days above freezing since Nov. 30....a bit late for this advice.

It's like telling us in July that we should have checked our A/C units in March/April....too late.
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wm1066
216 Fans
02:55 PM on 01/19/2011
My thoughts also, I weatherized in october. Its too late at this time of the year for doing any weatherizing on the outside of the house. And try getting the double stick tape (plastic on windows)to work on cold damp walls.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mwsomerset
This is not the life I ordered.
545 Fans
04:45 PM on 01/18/2011
I was told not to use a blanket on my water heater....it causes them to rust...
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WholeBuffalo
81 Fans
 
01:57 PM on 01/19/2011
The blanket should not cause rust. Condensation requires a cold surface, and the water heater will be warmer than surrounding air. A blanket can trap moisture from leaks, but that is a problem with the heater, not the blanket.
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