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Get Ready, Twin Cities. Winter is Coming

Just in time to pile on the Christmas bills, the months of December, January and February have traditionally been the most expensive months for energy costs in Minneapolis and St. Paul. It may be difficult right now to imagine temperatures in the teens and snow piled high but that little voice in the back of your brain is telling you it is inevitable.

What doesn’t have to be inevitable is the spike in your energy bill caused by dropping temperatures. If you take the time now to get your home ready for winter you can significantly reduce your energy use when those cold winds blow. It doesn’t take that much time, it doesn’t have to cost a ton of cash and almost anyone can make the simple energy reducing repairs that may be needed.

Remember when your mom would tell you to “Shut the door. We don’t need to heat the great outdoors.” Well the biggest cause of high energy bills in winter is heat escaping to the great outdoors and doing so from more than just an open door.

Here are 7 tips to help turn you home into a more energy efficient abode this winter.

  • Start with the weather stripping on your window sills and doors. If it is torn or worn replace it. If there are gaps in the caulking around window panes get out the caulk gun and make repairs. If you have wooden window or door frames inspect them for rot and gaps. Sealing up the “leaks” in your home will not only keep the heat inside but eliminate those “cold drafts” that seem to find their way inside.
  • Replace window screens with storm windows. If you have screen doors give them the same treatment and hang a storm door.
  • If you have a fireplace, check the flue. If you are getting a draft when the flue is closed it may be rusted. Santa won’t like this but a faulty flue has to be repaired or replaced otherwise you have an expensive, heat sucking entryway for cold air.
  • Make sure you have a clean filter for your furnace and install a new evaporator pad for your whole house humidifier.
  • If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, this is the year to get one. Relying on the last person out the door in the morning to lower the heat is unreliable and creates an ice box for the first person home in the evening.
  • Believe it or not cold air can enter through electrical sockets that are installed on exterior walls. You can get foam insulation pads that can easily be installed behind the sockets to stop the leak.
  • Your furnace doesn’t have a gas pedal. Set your furnace for the desired temperature and it will stop when it gets there. If the house is cold and you crank the thermostat up to 80 it won’t hit your desired temperature of 72 any faster than if you just set it to 72. Setting it for a higher “faster” temperature will require that you adjust it downwards later.

So there are 7 easy tips to lowering your energy bill this winter and trust us, these tips are a lot easier to do while we still have the fantastic fall weather rather than attempting them when the thermometer drops below freezing.

 

Post Author: Steve Sarantos

Steve Sarantos spent his first 20 years after education, working in the auto industry, retail, and importing from the orient. Most of the positions were sales, or negotiating with vendors, which gave him a wealth of experience working directly with people and what it takes to make things work for both parties.
When he decided to go into business for himself, insurance seemed like the perfect venue. Help people with something most knew very little about, get the right product for the right price. Everyone has to have it in or form or another, so all you have to do to be successful is be honest, keep your promises, and offer people what they want. Someone to talk to about insurance that will give them choices and straight talk.
After starting Reliable Insurance Network from scratch in 1996, it is now a thriving family business with clients in MN, WI, and AZ. Reliable Insurance Network continues to refine it's processes, use technology to stay flexible, and let clients work with them in whatever way is comfortable for them, and provide top companies and rates along with superior service so everyone is happy.