The heat is on

Energy-saving steps to take at home this winter, By Tamara Browning With electric and gas rates rising, an out-of-control furnace is not what anyone needs come wintertime. Neither is good, warm air seeping from the cozy indoors to the cold outside. There are plenty of ways heat can escape. Two percent of home heat can be lost through electrical outlets, according to “The Homeowner’s Handbook,” published by OMD Enterprise Inc. Some other “escape routes” include bath fans and kitchen hoods that are vented to the outside, 4 percent; doors, 11 percent; plumbing penetrations, 13 percent; fireplaces, 14 percent; heat ducts, 15 percent; walls and ceilings that lack insulation, 31 percent. Residents would do well to determine areas of heat loss, such as checking for air leaks around windows, which amount to a 10 percent heat loss in a home. Using plastic window coverings, weather stripping for windows and doors and insulating walls and attics are do-it-yourself ways to make a home more energy efficient. When Terry Drury built his home in 1991, he made sure it was insulated. “Some of the walls are 2 by 6 (foot) thick walls. You can get more insulation in the walls that way,” said Drury, owner/inspector of Drury Home Inspection Inc. However, do-it-yourself owners of older homes should make sure they don’t have “knob and tube” electrical wiring before they insulate. Knob and tube wiring’s nickname comes from the ceramic knobs that are used to insulate and secure the wiring runs and the ceramic tubes used to protect the wires where they pass through potentially abrasive materials such as wood joists and studs, according to www.allaroundthehouse.com/lib.def.na10.htm. “You can’t insulate over the top of that, or you’ll start a fire,” Drury said. “That particular type of wiring has got to have air movement all the way around it. With older homes, you need to rewire and then insulate - those are homes built 1960s and before.” People living in mobile homes need maintenance checks around their homes before winter, said Bob Bergen of Bob Bergen Heating and Air Conditioning. “Check the skirting for openings. Are the windows sealed? The repair of the skirting and the outside windows are very important to make that seal,” said Bergen, whose business serves both residential and mobile homes. He said it’s important to check for water leaks in toilets and faucets in mobile homes. Typically, when the temperature gets below freezing, people will turn on a water faucet in a traditional, residential home so their pipes don’t freeze. “In a mobile home, do not do this because you have the main drain pipe (that) goes from the bottom of the home, across and into the drain,” Bergen said. “This is open area, and it will freeze. If it freezes, it’s a very costly repair.” Bergen also suggested testing the mobile home’s heat tape wrapped on the cold water supply (heat tape generally isn’t used in traditional homes). The simplest way to test it is to turn on the cold water and put your hand under the water stream first thing in the morning. “The water will first come out room temperature. Then it’s going to come out warm to hot, and then it’s going to be cold,” Bergen said. “This tells me that the heat tape to the mobile home is working.” Furnaces in mobile homes as well as traditional homes should be checked every fall, particularly for the presence of carbon monoxide, Bergen said. Buy an ivy plant if you cannot afford to have your furnace checked for carbon monoxide. “If the leaves start changing color, it also lets you know that you have monoxide leak. It’s crude, but it works,” Bergen said. Other tips: • Don’t run bath fans any longer than necessary. “They’re designed to suck moisture and everything out of the bathroom,” Drury said. “While you’re doing that, you’re just sucking heat right out with it.” • Keep fireplace doors and the damper closed when not in use. When using the fireplace, open a window closest to the fireplace about an inch and set the thermostat to 50 or 55 degrees. If the fireplace is in one particular room, close the doors to that room. • Install storm doors only if the manufacturer of your exterior doors OKs it. Some manufacture warranties won’t cover damage left by storm doors. “A lot of the framing around the exterior windows (of exterior doors) is vinyl or plastic. If you put a storm door on there ... it melts it,” said Drury, who learned the hard way when he installed a solid glass storm door and the heat generated between the doors resulted in melting. The warranty for the exterior door didn’t cover the damage. • Program setback thermostats so the furnace doesn’t kick on unless it gets below 60 degrees at bedtime. Or, when you’re gone, program it to not turn on until it falls to 50 degrees. • Open drapes on sunny winter days to let the sun in for warmth. • Don’t cover heat registers with drapes or furniture. • Use pre-formed foam outlet covers for outlets on exterior walls. Install outside faucet covers. Use air conditioner covers. • Apply from 1/2- to 2-inch, 4-by-8-foot foam boards to interior walls of basements that have exposed areas (above ground). • For the temporary filling of openings in mobile home floors, use pure steel wool instead of aerosol cans of spray insulation, which may expand. “Sometimes I’ve seen things damaged by using that spray foam,” Bergen said.