Winter’s officially here, and by here I mean it’s in the room with you, right behind you, seeping in through the cracks in your own home and making you wonder why you’re still shivering when the heater is blasting. Whether you’ve moved to a new place recently, were unaware your home was as leaky as a screen door on a submarine, or saw this coming months ago and just procrastinated (me), you’re now facing several months of your precious heated air floating away into the hallway or outside.
There are ways to mitigate this with a few quick fixes. You could buy a thermal leak detector to find the cold spots in your home, but before buying anything, take a cursory inspection. You can get an idea if there are gaps in your door frames and baseboards and if you can feel the cold air rushing in through the weatherstripping around your windows.
We’ve outlined several things you can do to insulate your home and keep the hot air in this winter. These are all approachable projects anyone can tackle, and none of it costs much money. With the savings to your electricity bill, they might even pay for themselves.
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Get Caulking
More likely than not, if you live in an apartment or an older home, you’ve got gaps in that 90-degree angle where your walls’ baseboards meet your floor. These gaps may not look big, but the amount of cold air rushing through them and into your home is significant. Check around the window frames’ molding for gaps too.
