10 Benefits to Weatherizing Your Home
Apr, 12 2013 09:04
When we think of weatherization, we often think about three things: improving our comfort in our homes, saving money on our energy bills and saving money. While these are major benefits of weatherization, there are many more. Check the following list for some interesting facts and benefits of weatherizing your home.
1. Be More Comfortable
Is your house cold and drafty in the winter? Does it get hot in the summer? Do you have trouble keeping the entire house at the same temperature? Weatherizing your home can address all these issues. Your home is your castle. It’s your family’s safe place. It’s where you live. Why not make it as comfortable as possible?
2. Save Money on Energy Bills
Weatherizing your home will put money back in your pocket every month. It’s that simple. On average, weatherization helps homeowners reduce their energy consumption by 25% to 30% - a savings of $600 per year, every year. Older homes save even more – around 35% or more! As utility prices rise, the savings increase.
3. Better Air Quality
By blocking out contaminants and improving the ventilation in your home, you’ll improve the quality of the air your family breathes. Poor air quality with airborne particles and irritants can cause or worsen ailments such as asthma, allergies, headaches, difficulty concentrating, sinus infections and other health problems.
4. Longer Life of Appliances
If your home isn’t properly weatherized, outdoor heat is infiltrating your home and making your cooling system work overtime. Overworked cooling systems tend to break down more often and die sooner, which cost you even more money. And the same thing happens in the winter when heat from your home escapes. Aside from paying good money to heat the outdoors, it makes your heat source work that much harder to keep you comfortable.
5. Help the Environment
Producing the energy we use in our homes creates vast amounts of environmental pollution and greenhouse gasses. Consuming the energy often produces harmful by-products. So reducing our energy use – and energy waste – has a direct positive impact on the environment. By weatherizing your home to make it more energy efficient, you will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2.9 tons each year, on average.
6. Tax Credits, Rebates, Incentives
There are many federal, state and utility-sponsored rebates, incentives and tax credits available for weatherizing your home and implementing other energy saving upgrades. Why not have the government help you pay to improve your home? .
7. Less Cleaning
When you fill the gaps and cracks where outside air leaks into your home, you’re not only improving your home’s energy efficiency – you’re stopping all that dust from entering, too! That can mean less dust buildup – and less cleaning. Now who doesn’t want to cut down on their cleaning time!
8. Less Bugs and Spiders
Raise your hand if you like having insects and spiders in your home. We don’t, either! The gaps and cracks in your home’s outer shell is where most critters enter your home. By sealing these gaps, you’re keeping out drafts, preventing heat from escaping and also blocking the entry point for creepy crawlies.
9. Improve Your Home’s Durability
Whether you’re replacing windows, adding insulation, caulking, weather stripping or any other means of weatherizing, you’re strengthening your home’s overall durability. Keeping outside elements out and reducing moisture is a key part to keeping the structural integrity of your home intact.
10. Increase Your Home’s Value, Sell Faster
In today’s economy, cautious home buyers are looking at a home’s operating expenses as well as the purchase price. If your home has been upgraded to be more comfortable, more durable and use less energy, you may be able to ask a higher price and sell faster. Even if you’re not planning on selling anytime soon, why not increase the value of your largest investment while enjoying all the benefits listed above?
The first step to weatherizing your home is getting a home energy analysis by a certified professional. That way you’ll know exactly what to do to get the most bang for your buck.
Schedule an energy analysis today!
Helpful Links:
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The Energy Audit Process
Energy Saving Solutions for Each Room
