Insulate to Save
Posted by Gail | Filed under Money Management
With energy costs soaring and the coldest days of winter just ahead, spending some time battening down the hatches can save you big bucks.
When I bought my home, one of the selling features was that it was an R2000 house with an average monthly heating cost of ninety bucks. Leaving a house that had cost upwards of $400 a month to heat – it was big and it was half on electricity – you bet that caught my attention.
Look up. Is money evaporating through your roof? I bet you’ve never checked on how well insulated your attic is. Making an attic hatch airtight and adding insulation to the space above your head can save up to 50% on heating costs according to HandyCanadian.com.
Whether you install fiberglass insulation or choose to blow in your insulation, leave this job to the professionals. Wouldn’t DIY be cheaper Gail? Not in this case, since professionals can often get you better quality insulation and install it for less than the retail price you’d have to pay for the insulation alone. And if you mess up the insulation process because you’re a novice, you won’t get the best results.
Determined to DIY because the job is bigger than just some insulation in the attic? Head on over to Natural Resources Canada’s website and check out their book on retrofitting – which is their term for upgrading to keep the heat in. From caulking to weather-stripping, adding insulation to replacing windows, the book deals with all kinds of houses.
Your insulation efforts don’t have to be huge to give you big savings rewards. Just sealing drafts in your home with durable weather-stripping can save you between 5-15% on your heating bills.
Want to check how tight your current seals are? Hold a stick of burning incense near suspect areas. If the smoke does a little dance, you’ve got some insulating to do.
October 9, 2012 at 7:20 am
I just moved into a 32 year old bungalow last year, and one of the first things I had done was an energy audit. It was great and he gave me a plan to reduce our energy costs drastically over the next few years. Seal the attic hatch which had zero insulation, all new windows and doors made a big difference to cost and comfort and next is blown in insulation in the attic. We could be an R2000 house soon.
October 9, 2012 at 8:45 am
We have a 42 year old home. We had to replace ALL the windows and doors, tear off the stucco exterior, put on 2″ of aluminum sided 2″ rigid insulation and recover the exterior with hardy board. It wasn’t cheap but the energy efficiency is now fantastic ( I can sit in front of the windows in the winter) and there is no frost / water damage on my lower walls and baseboards. It isn’t just about the energy costs ( we will recoup our costs in about 5 years) – it also is about extending the life of the house.
October 9, 2012 at 8:57 am
It’s also important to remember some basic no-cost saving strategies for heating. The basic one is to turn down your thermostat. It’s the differential between the inside and the outside temperatures that drives your heating requirements, so the colder it is outside OR the warmer it is inside, the more heating you need to maintain a specific temperature. I haven’t found a way to control outside temperatures so I have to settle for control of the inside temperature. Even a small adjustment of 2 or three degrees will have a noticeable effect on your heating costs.
October 9, 2012 at 9:09 am
I agree with Julie – we also turn down the thermostat in the winter by a degree or two. It might feel a little chilly every now and then, but it’s a lot easier to put on a sweater or use a blanket than to pay way more in heating costs! We also make sure that the temperature goes down a few extra degrees while we are at work… no sense in keeping the house warm all of the time.
I’ve also started putting plastic coverings on my windows, from the inside. I understand this isn’t very pretty, and it isn’t a very fun job… but again, talk about significant savings!!
October 9, 2012 at 11:05 am
As someone in the construction industry, make sure that when they insulate, that you have your proper air/vapour barrier up (on the warm side). It’s the poly/plastic sheet you see on the walls. That can account for significant air loss, and not doing it right may let moisture get in your walls. (which = more $ down the road to fix.)
October 9, 2012 at 11:46 am
Gail shouldn’t you introduce payback period into your math? For instance if I spend $2000 insulating my house and it saves me $30 a month (reasonable back of the napkin math), that gives me a payback period of about 5 years. Technically you should also include opportunity cost (so $2000 a year might generate $60 a year income, but that’s not very much so we can ignore it for now). So on the surface it sounds good, but not everybody will be in the house for 5 years and not all new buyers will value it as a highly as you do. Just something to think about. Obviously there’s benefits to the environment etc that aren’t easily quantified, just thoguht I’d take a classic business school argument here.
October 9, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Some good ideas for sure!! We put new windows in in the spring, and I noticed a difference with my A/C in the summer. Also, using a programmable thermostat is wonderful. No one is at home during the day, so we have our thermostat set to go to a lower temp by 9:00 am, and back up by 3:00 pm, and we also use it overnight, having it come back on at about 6:15 am – so the furnace is already running when you get up. If you’re in an older house, with an original furnace, consider going to a high efficient furnace. A lot of heat goes straight up the chimney in the older in-efficient furnaces. Again, a calculation should be done in this case, esp. if you’re not planning to stay in the home for too long.
October 15, 2012 at 1:51 pm
In addition to the above comments, it would also save you tons of money in the long-run if you care to have your heating unit well-maintained. It can definitely save you cost on unnecessary repairs, for instance.
October 20, 2012 at 9:54 am
Programmable thermostats are more for comfort than savings. Thinks about, you’re letting your house cool down during the days but have to heat it back to the point of comfort. This is costing you just as much gas/electricity as if you just left the thermostat alone. It’s much easier to heat a space a half degree as opposed to 3 degrees and easier on your furnace resulting in longer life span and less maintenance. Though turning down the thermostat if you’re gone for a few days does have some savings.
Don’t get me wrong though, I love having it cooler at night so its all a priority on comfort.