Winterizing Your Home: How To Keep Warm and Save Big

When you live in a New York City apartment, “winterizing” your home likely means cranking up the thermostat and calling the superintendent about a draft window or entryway. But once you’re in the ‘burbs, the benefits of winterizing go far beyond a few quick fixes to keep the chill out—not only will you save on heating bills all season long, but depending on the improvements made, you could qualify for up to $1,500 in tax credits.

If it seems like a lot to bite off before the cold settles in, here are some quick fixes—next week we’ll tackle more of the heavy lifting.

• Get a Draft Snake. These Depression-era fixtures are, simply, fabric that’s weighed down and pushed against the base of your doors to avoid a draft. Think it won’t impact your bills? Think again: simple drafts can waste 5-30% of your energy use! Pick one up a local store, or get crafty with these family-friendly snakes.
• Change your furnace filters at least once per month during the colder months. Dirty filters keep airflow at bay, automatically increasing your energy demands and driving your bill through the roof. Alternatively, you can switch to a permanent filer that can save big bucks after just one season.
• Run your fan in reverse—really! Many modern ceiling fans have both the clockwise and counterclockwise options, and clockwise rotations actually make it warmer. That can save you up to 10%!
• Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees. Yours is likely set at 140 degrees, which is much hotter than you need—but you’re paying for all that steam you don’t use. Crank it down and you’ll see savings as high as 10%.

Simple enough for you? Next week we’ll look at some of the larger home improvements that will not only add up to big savings month after month, but could lock in some major breaks come April 15^th!