Top Energy Efficiency Improvements To Get Ready For Your Home

It's that time of year when the great outdoors becomes the great indoors, swapping sleeping bags for knitted blankets, bicycles for snow shovels, and swimming for sweaters. As the chillier air begins to shove its way in, you'll want to ensure that during sweater weather, the cool air doesn't shove its way into your home. That's the perfect time to explore handyman services that can help with energy efficiency improvements.

Poorly sealed entrances and doorways, windows, soffits, and even piping can cause your home to become less energy efficient, causing a huge impact on the efficiency of your heating system and, therefore, your energy bills. Energy waste is a large global problem, and it dissipates your resources, impacts the environment, and increases your energy costs. Many, if not all, homeowners are all too aware that heating and cooling systems are the largest energy users in the home, making up at least 40% of your energy bills. In order to cut back on heat loss (or heat intrusion), there are a few energy efficiency improvements property owners in Raleigh, NC should be aware of.

From air sealing improvements like weatherstripping and caulking to attic insulation upgrades, each proactive energy efficiency improvement step you take can enhance the overall performance of your home, as well as reduce your monthly cost of energy usage. In this guide, the Raleigh handyman experts from Mr. Handyman of NE Raleigh to Clayton Area will provide you with the most energy-efficient improvements you should implement in your home.

Not only will you have a more energy-efficient home, but you will also reduce your carbon footprint! Investing in these energy efficient home improvements will lead to more cost savings over time, making your home both comfortable and economical. So, grab a blanket and a pumpkin spice latte as you keep reading to learn more about energy-efficient upgrades in your home.

What Is Energy Efficiency, and What Is An Energy Efficiency Improvement Service?

You've probably heard of energy efficiency before since it's a buzzword in conversations about environmental responsibility and sustainability. But energy efficiency should become a buzzword in your household too. Energy efficiency is the use of less energy to perform the same task or achieve the same outcome. An energy-efficient home will use less energy to heat and cool. An energy-efficient commercial building like a manufacturing facility will use less energy consumption to produce goods. That’s the key factor in an energy efficiency improvement service.

Here's a simple example of energy efficiency: an energy-efficient light bulb is able to produce the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb; however, an LED light bulb uses 75 to 80% less electricity than a non-LED light bulb. So when exterior windows, exterior doors, or insulation are energy-efficient, the overall energy consumption in your home will be reduced, and so will your energy costs.

In the fall and winter, the largest part of homeowners' bills are heating. And for the most part, that is not totally controllable. The more you use it, the more it will cost at the end of the month. And while North Carolina winters aren't as drastic as states like Minnesota, the need for efficient heating and energy-efficient windows or doors is still important.

An energy efficient improvement is when homeowners invest in an energy upgrade that will reduce energy consumption, such as adding insulation materials, sealing drafts, replacing old windows or doors, and wrapping exposed plumbing pipes. You see, when exterior windows and doors aren't sealed properly with effective caulking or weatherstripping, heat escapes and cold air seeps through any gaps, causing your heating system to go into overdrive to account for the heat escape. That's why you'll want to implement these energy efficiency improvements into your building.

These energy improvements will reduce your energy costs but also improve the overall comfort of your home during the fall and before the winter! Now, let's take a look at some of the most common places where energy efficiency improvement can be made.

Energy Efficiency Improvement 101: Check For Drafts and Seal Leaks

If you've ever been in a historical building or even an old home with original windows while you were admiring the original mantel, perhaps you caught a chill when you were standing next to the window. You see, older windows are notorious for not being energy efficient due to their outdated insulation properties and gaps that allow cold air to infiltrate.

Sealing these air leaks in windows through caulking and weatherstripping should make a significant energy efficiency improvement in your heating bills, as well as the comfortability of your space. The same goes for your exterior doors. Our handyman experts agree that weatherstripping and caulking gaps around window frames and door frames will pay for itself within one year in energy savings. Together, caulking and weatherstripping alleviate drafts and ensure your home stays warm despite the chilly weather. To test for air leaks, you can do the following:

Feel For Drafts and Check For Light: The simplest way to check if your doors or windows are leaking air is to first walk around the outside of your house and see if there are cracks or holes where the building materials from your siding and door meet, or your siding or window meet. Turn the lights off inside your home during the day, and if you see daylight seeping through the sides or at the bottom of your door or window. If you do, you have an air leak that should be sealed right away. On a cold day, put your hand against your windows or doors to feel for a draft. If you feel cold air seeping through, grab some weatherstripping and caulking and seal that gap!
Conduct The Flame Test: If you have a kid who is always up for a science experiment, try this one! All you need is a lighter and a candle. If you can't feel any air leaks, light the candle and trace the outline of your door or your window. If the flame and smoke are pulling in one direction, then you have found the location of the air leak. If that doesn't help, have another person stand outside the window with a hair dryer. If the candle flickers when the hairdryer is on, then the window or the door is allowing air to seep through.

Once you've identified where the leak is coming from, you can perform a low-cost and quick energy efficiency improvement task. It is important to note that patching an air leak is only a temporary solution, and while caulking and weatherstripping will stop the air leak, your window or door is no longer considered energy efficient.

You may want to consider replacing your doors or replacing your windows if yours are over 30 years old. However, if your windows or doors are not quite at that 30-year mark, you could also invest in a high-quality window repair and door repair to correct any structural issues that are causing air leaks to infiltrate into your living space.

Sealing up drafts around your doors and windows is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to implement an energy efficiency improvement into your home, so before it cools down for the year, check for sealing issues!

Energy Efficiency Improvement 101: Enhance and Upgrade Insulation

It's a basic principle of science: Warm air rises, and cold air descends. When warm air is piled on top of cold air, it is in a stable state, and the two temperatures will remain separate. However, when cool air is on top of warm air, the two temperatures are unstable and will mix together, causing the warm air to rise and the cool air to sink. This is important to note in your home.

When you don't have adequate insulation, you'll experience uneven temperatures in different rooms in your home, causing your heating system to inefficiently operate. Adequate insulation is important for your drywall, your attic, and even around plumbing appliances like your water heater, as well as exposed plumbing pipes. There are a few things homeowners can do to enhance insulation and therefore implement an energy efficiency improvement in their home:

Check Insulation Levels: Inspect your attic and your drywall for adequate insulation. You can do this yourself by either measuring the depth of the insulation or hiring a professional for a more detailed evaluation. Upgrading to newer insulation materials will boast a positive energy efficiency improvement in your home and also provide you peace of mind knowing that pests won't nest in your walls for the winter.
Wrap Insulated Blankets Around Plumbing: You should also consider adding an insulated blanket around exposed plumbing pipes and your water heater. This will ensure that these areas maintain warmth during cool months and retain heat more efficiently.

Energy Efficiency Improvement 101: Energy Audits

For your peace of mind this fall and winter, you could consider hiring an energy professional for an energy audit. Professionals will be able to determine where and how your home is losing energy and where you can save big time on energy costs. However, you can perform your own energy audits as well. Simply walk throughout and outside your home to analyze problem areas. These problem areas are typically around your windows and your doors, siding, and fascia. Fascia is often overlooked, but it can be the root cause of heat loss if it isn't properly sealed or insulated. Check for cracks and gaps, and invest in fascia repair if there is significant damage.

Energy Efficiency Improvements The Handy Way: Rely on Mr. Handyman

Whether you're considering upgrading to an energy-efficient window or could use some help with weatherstripping, our local handyman professionals from Mr. Handyman of NE Raleigh to Clayton Area can be your partner for energy efficiency improvements. If you have any questions about energy efficiency improvements, contact our exceptional customer service team! You should be reaching for a sweater to get the perfect fall look, not because your home is too drafty. Implement these energy efficiency improvements before the fall and winter, and you will not only have a more energy-efficient home but also a home that is comfortable.