As winter approaches and the temperatures drop, it’s time to begin thinking about winterising your home to ensure you stay warm through the winter months without breaking the bank on energy bills.  There are a few simple actions you can easily do yourself without spending a lot of time or money!  Here are our top suggestions:

1) Check your home for air leaks – on a windy day use an incense stick or candle to determine where air is leaking out of your home.  If the candle flame flickers or the incense smoke changes direction, you may have an air leak.  Common culprits include doors, windows and electrical outlets or switch panels in rooms on walls with an exterior exposure.  Foam insulation made for outlet and switch panel placement is inexpensive and easy to install yourself.  Use caulking or weather-stripping to seal gaps around doors or windows.  For more information about caulking or weather stripping, check out our fact sheet. 

2) Have a furnace inspection completed to ensure your furnace is operating at peak efficiency.  Also, check your furnace filter often during fall and winter and replace as recommended by the furnace filter manufacturer.  If the filter is plugged up, your furnace will have to work harder than necessary to heat your home – meaning higher energy bills for you.

3) Check your heat registers and return-air vents to ensure they are not blocked which could limit air flow throughout your home.

4) During colder days, make sure to keep your drapes and blinds closed – especially at night and on cloudy days.  This will help to keep the colder air out, and the air you’re paying to heat inside.

5) An un-insulated basement or attic can account for up to 30 per cent of your home’s total heat loss.  Spending money to upgrade your insulation levels in these areas is an excellent investment!  For further information, check out our insulation fact sheets by following this link.

6) A programmable thermostat can automatically reduce the temperature setting in your home while you are away during the day, or sleeping at night – which could mean automatic savings for you! For every 1°C you set back your thermostat during the entire heating season (based on eight hours per day), you could save 2% of your annual space heating costs.