Home,Improvement,Through,Energ homerepair how to Home Improvement Through Energy Efficiency

Elegance and style are mostly the factors why timber flooring is well-liked to home builders. Aside from that, timber flooring is one of the most gorgeous and long-lasting flooring options that any homeowner could make. It's going to add val This year when you go up into the attic to get the Christmas decorations take a look around the attic to see if there is any frost on the roof ceiling or rafters. If there is then you have a moisture problem that should be taken care of. Moi

Insulation Accordingto a report by Energy Star, home heating and cooling costs can be cutby 20% by properly sealing and insulating a home. A one-time investmentcan permanently benefit your home and save you money. Attics Heatrises in a home, with warm air leaving from the attic and upper levelsand pulling in from the lower levels through the basement, crawlspace,and outside. Reduce the conditioned air exiting from the attic byinsulating all areas and replace any insulation that is old or moist.Check that the entire floor is sealed underneath the insulation, andcaulk or use spray foam insulation on any cracks or crevices. Using10-12 inches of insulation on an attic floor is standard, giving it anR-38 insulation rating. However, adding enough insulation to bring itto R-50 or more is recommended. Attic stairways are also a major escaperoute for warm air. The gaps created by an attic stairway can amount toas much as 40 square inches! Self-adhesive foam tape can be run alongthe upper edges of the attic staircase door to help reduce thisleakage. Use eyehooks or a latch to jam the door against the foam whenit's not in use. There are also many places around the homeitself where air can leak in. Use caulk or spray foam to seal holeswhere wires enter into the basement and main house area. Seal aroundall these cables, pipes and other crevices. Make sure to brush away anydirt or cobwebs before applying caulk or spray foam. Basements and Crawlspaces Insulatingthe basement is a very effective way to add energy-efficiency to yourhome. Because water vapor comes into the basement through the concretewalls, this insulation should be water resistant and include a vaporbarrier. Otherwise, it can become a habitat for mold and the moisturewill ruin the insulation. Encapsulating a crawlspace is alsoa fantastic way to make a home more energy-efficient. By sealingcrawlspace vents, warm air is prevented from entering in the summer,where it would add humidity to the home. Sealing crawlspace vents alsokeeps cold air out that would otherwise seep into the house in thewinter. A seal is created between the crawlspace walls and the air in ahome that protects pipes, water heater, and heating ducts from cold. Plumbing Thewater heater and pipes can lose a great deal of heat as they runthrough a damp basement and especially in a cold, vented crawlspace.Insulating the pipes and covering the water heater with an inexpensiveinsulative blanket can help the keep the heat where it should be.Heating and/or cooling vents that have been installed improperly canleak 25% of the air they vent into the crawlspace, basement and attic.Have a professional clean the vents and test them for leaks that needto be sealed. Windows and Doors As much as30-35% of the heat in a home is lost through the windows. Glass panesare the weakest link in a home's insulation, and on cold days, it canfeel uncomfortable near the windows in even a properly heated home. Ifthe windows are broken or have cracked panes, then they should bereplaced. Single-paned steel cellar windows that are drafty and rustingalso lose a great deal of heat and should be replaced with vinyl,double-thermopane windows. Buying windows with a Low-E coating willtake advantage of sunlight to keep warmth in the home in the winter andcool temperatures in the summer. In the basement, installing properwindow wells with covers will protect basement windows from blowingwinds as well as help prevent flooding. Installing stormwindows and weather stripping over normal windows will do wonders forkeeping heat in and outside sounds out. Weather stripping caulk isclear and designed to strip off without damaging paint when it's nolonger needed. Thick, high quality drapes can add beauty and insulationto windows as well- especially if the curtains are drawn during coldweather. Weather stripping the doors is also a fantastic way to keepconditioned air in the house while making a home cozier, quieter, andmore secure. And according to USA Today, United States residents canget up to a $500 tax credit on efficient doors and $200 on windows!(Source =http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2005-08-01-breaks_x.htm) Appliances Propercare of appliances will save a great deal of money in the long run.Most effective maintenance requires a one-time repair or an annualservice and should be no trouble at all. Keep appliances in good order,and they will continue to perform at their peak. Furnacefilters are inexpensive and easy to install. They should be replacedevery 30-45 days (more often if there are pets living in the home).This will keep the air circulating through the house more freely andwill stop the blower from having to work harder to move the air througha clogged filter. Severely clogged filters can overheat and lead topremature damage in their compressor. Oil furnaces should be servicedand their parts lubricated once a year. Gas-fired furnaces, boilers,and air conditioning systems should be checked every two years. In thesummer when the furnace is not running, turn off the pilot light sothat fuel isn't being used to keep it lit during the warm months. Whena light bulbs goes out, replace it with a florescent light. Florescentlights last ten times as long as regular bulbs and are four times asefficient. Install florescent lights in drop ceilings in the basementfor optimum light and efficiency. Replacing outside floodlights withhigh-pressure sodium lamps will produce a higher-efficiency light thatwill attract fewer insects because the light is harder for them to see. Keeprefrigerators away from the wall to circulate the air well. Dust willinterfere with the heat exchange coils and prevent the fan from workingproperly- clean this at least once a year. Defrost the refrigeratorregularly to keep it at its best and to increase its life. When cookingfood, cover the pots and pans with a lid to save nearly 50% of the lostheat. When doing laundry, remember that colored clothes do not need tobe washed in warm or hot water- this just wastes energy and causes thecolors to fade. Dehumidifying air in ahome will make it much more energy-efficient to cool. The lion's shareof an air conditioning's job is to dehumidify. Install a self-drainingand energy-efficient dehumidifier to save on air conditioning, and takecare not to block air conditioning and heating vents with furniture ordrapes. Keep the doors open to rooms that are normally in use to allowconditioned air to move easily around the area. Shut off rooms that arenot regularly used. In the summer, a ceiling fan will give the room amore comfortable feel. Run the fan slowly in the winter to move thewarmest air from the ceiling to the main area of the room.  Making your Home Energy-Efficient From the Bottom Up! Basement Systems and Total Basement Finishingare dedicated to adding energy efficiency from the bottom up. We caninsulate your basement walls and floor and dehumidify the space, makinga cleaner, healier living space. Our SaniDry Basement Air Systemcan dehumidify your basement while cleaning the air of particles assmall as two microns- smaller than mold spores and dust mite feces. OurThermalDry Floor Mattingcan insulate your basement floor, making it ten degrees warmer thanyour concrete whiile providing a vapor barrier that keeps humidity outof your basement and protects any carpet laid on it from mold, rot andmildew. Adding insulation to your furnace, pipes and ducts is a greatway to protect your home from the cold air of a crawlspace, but doingso does not protect your home from the air that seeps up through thecrawlspace into your home. Basement Systems can seal off yourcrawlspace vents and encapsulate the area with our CleanSpace Crawlspace Encapsulation System.Our tough 20-mil plastic will keep your crawlspace walls and floor fromletting humidity into your home and will discourage pests and insects.It installs in about a day, and once installed, your crawlspace will beusable as storage. Dropping the humidity below 60% withCleanSpace and a SaniDry will make mold go dormant and stop it fromcreating spores. Additionally, dust mites will not have enough moistureto live on and will not send their fecal material into the air, whichwould then travel into the main area of your home. A dry crawlspacewill be safer from rot and your entire house will be a healthier place.