Save some energy this winter !!

Here are some things to remember when your are trying to make your house more energy efficient !!

1. Start from the outside of your house when you want to fix an air leak or a draft !! 

(Same way as you would treat a water leak)

2. If you have a house that was built less than 15 years ago by a builder chances are that you have cheap air exhaust grill on the outside of your house, make sure that they are not missing the anti-draft flapper or any fins, because in that case they would  need to be replaced !!

3. Make sure that the silicone is properly done all around your windows and doors, if it isn't it could lead to humid air and water coming through your walls and creating mold and rot !! Also make sure that the thermos glass and weather stripping are still in good condition on your windows and doors !! Bad thermos glass would show a lot of condensation inside your glass !!

4. You should make sure that the sleeves for your exhaust fans in the attic are well insulated and preferably covered with a vapor barrier !! (I know some of you are probably thinking I'm not going there, but sometimes it's a good occasion to make sure your roof is not leaking and you don't have mold in the attic) If there is no black spores on your plywood and the rafters and that the insulation is dry everywhere it means that your roof is not leaking and the your attic is well ventilated !! After the attic check up you can also make sure that the access hatches(s) have the same R value as your attic insulation which should be for most people living in Canada R-40 !! If it isn't properly insulated you can add any type of insulation you want by making sure to add layers until the R value of the material adds to R32-R40 and putting a weather stripping on the hatch wouldn't hurt either !! 

5.  Because heat rises it's important to make sure that none of the ceiling fixtures on your upper floor are letting cold air in your house !! The easiest way to take care of that would be to go to your favorite hardware store and ask them about theses foam pad to put behind the cover plates !! A really good trick to know if your house is losing a lot of his heating through the roof is to go outside when it's really cold and humid and look at your roof, if your house is losing a lot of heat the rafters are gonna have a frost line on them and in between them it would be clear !!

6. A house is really hard to heat when it's too humid, so a good trick is to start some or all the fans in the house and crack the windows open a couple time each day, even in February !! It will change the air in the house and balance the humidity level !!

7. Change the air filter at least every 2 to 3 months depending on the amount of persons living in the house !! It will allow the furnace to work to it's best capacity and the air you breathe will feel cleaner !! Another really important thing when you want to get the maximum efficiency out of your furnace is to use foil tape and seal every main feeds, elbows, take off, air returns and boots on your entire vents system !! It will show a significant improvement in the airflow, especially on the upper floors !! 

8. Your hot water heater is consuming a lot of energy !! If you are not ready to invest into an in-line water or this option does not work for you family, you could at least put a thermofoil blanket onto your hot water heater and install the foam insulation on your hot water lines to keep the water hot for as long as possible and avoid the constant re-heating cycle !!

If you follow only a couple of theses tricks I can guarantee that it would make quite the difference on your energy consumption !! Any other questions please let me know !!