Top Ten Tricks to Winterproof Your Home

Do you have an older home or older roof? Here are the Top Ten Tricks to Winterproof Your Home:

There are lots of homes in Costa Mesa that are now more than 50 years old! Yikes! Many of the Costa Mesa homes in Halecrest, Mesa Verde, Eastside Costa Mesa, and Mesa North are all past the 50 year mark now, and many could be improved by an energy audit. Heck, I know my house could use it as well- the recent cold snap we have had has shown me that my house (built in 1967) has a hard time keeping itself warm and not letting all the warm air out.

Did you know that if you own Costa Mesa real estate you can call Southern California Edison and have them do an energy audit on your home? I just found out about this and I certainly will take advantage of this service. Until then, our Costa Mesa real estate Monday top ten list focuses on the obvious fixes that most homeowners can employ now to keep the cold air out, and the associated cost ($$$) with each fix in parenthesis:

1 . Insulate Your Walls- ($$$) Most of the homes in Costa Mesa were built at a time when builders did not use insulation in the walls, in the attic, or under the floor boards (if you have a raised foundation). Insulation itself is not expensive, but if you have a professional do the walls it can get a bit pricey.

2. Weather Stripping – ($$) This is not a pricey fix for a single door, but if you do multiple doors it will start to add up. go to your front door on a cold day, put your hand next to the cracks- do you feel cold air coming in? If so, the easiest fix is foam self adhesive insulation that you can easily put in yourself.

3. Auto Program Your Furnace – ($) This is a free fix if you can read your thermostat instructions :). If you don’t have a programmable furnace, spend the $50 to get one for your home and be sure to program heat for times when you are in the house- not when the kids are at school and you are at work.

4. Dual Pane Windows – ($$$$) This can be a pricey install ($2000 ++) for an entire home, but it could cut your energy bills by 40% if you use Energy Star Windows. Most of Costa Mesa homes were built with aluminum framed, single paned windows which are horribly inefficient.

5. Window Insulation – ($$) The cheaper way to get around new window installation is to install $45 EnergySavr Window Inserts ($45-$99/insert) – clear, lightweight window insulators. They’re way cheaper than replacing windows with new Energy Star windows plus they can lower your heating costs by 50% and require no tools to install in most cases. Just pop ’em inside the window frame (they’re custom made) and the foam strip around it expands to seal it in place. You’ll need to push in and out to open windows, but you’ll get better coverage than just caulking.

Save money on Costa Mesa real estate winter bills

6. Install a New Furnace Filter – ($) This is a fix you should be doing every year just to insure clean air in your home, but installing a new filter will greatly increase your furnace’s ability to push air through the ducts.

7. Water Heater Blanket – ($) It sounds funny, but if you wrap your water heater with a water heater blanket (about $19) or wrap it with insulation, it will greatly increase the energy efficiency of the water heater so it will not have to be constantly cycling on and off to keep the water hot in the tank.

8. Caulking The Cracks – ($) Super easy to do, just find areas in the corners of your home, windows, walls, baseboards, etc. that have cracks and need to be filled. This will keep the cold air out of your Costa Mesa real estate.

9. Insulate Your Switches – ($) What? I had never heard of this either, but there are actually foam inserts that can be put behind the switch plates to keep the cold air from coming in through the walls and then through the switches. Who knew!

10. Check Your Ducts – ($) This is one I am guilty of- I had some work done in the attic and a worker had inadvertently bumped a duct out of place. I could not figure out why two of my rooms would not get warm until I got into the attic and realized I need to repair the duct so all of the heat would flow into the rooms.

11. Replace an Outdated Furnace ($$$) Bonus to the top ten list :)! Another pricey solution, but the original furnaces of Costa Mesa real estate are not the most efficient things in the world. Some are work horses and don’t need to be replaced, so be sure to have it checked for free by the gas company for free to see how your healthy your furnace is.

Need more? Visit Energystar.gov to find more good solutions to save money.

 

Want to save money on your home? Call Broker Colin Delaney at (714) 743-9882 to find the best deals in Costa Mesa.