How efficient is your home?

I hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying the season of change. Here in Chicago it is cold outside, in fact today as I type this it is in the single digits. What better time to talk about a hot topic in a cold climate. As the mercury drops we become more aware of heating costs and how efficient our homes are. Although there is little you can do to change the price of natural gas and or electricity. There are many actions you can take as a responsible homeowner to make sure your home is more energy efficient this winter.

Change your furnace filter

A dirty furnace filter will require your furnace to work much harder to pull air through itself. Changing the filter once a month will help your furnace run at peak efficiency and help to eliminate airborne particles

Seal rear of electrical boxes on exterior walls

Feel a draft coming from the exterior walls?

Remove the switch plates on exterior walls, (make sure to turn off the breakers) pull out the switch or outlet and put a piece of metal tape across the back of the box to eliminate air leakage.

Programable thermostat

By purchasing a programmable thermostat you can control the energy usage in your home during different times during the day. Be careful not to swing the temperature to extreme because this could cause damage to the home and could increase your utility bills. IE: While your at home you enjoy a home temperature of 72, when you leave for work only swing it 5 or 6 degrees to 65-66.

As you can see there are inexpensive ways to increase the energy efficiency of your home. At Del Webb we take extreme measures to ensure the homes are operating a peak efficiency. Just to name a few:

-Dow foam blue board for exterior sheathing (increase the R-Value by 3 vs. OSB which is virtually 0)

-Double paned argon filled windows with Low E glass on them

-90%+ efficiency furnace

-Behind the walls we seal up all exterior penetrations with caulk or an expandable foam

If you would like further information on how to protect your wallet against the freezing temperatures this winter, feel free to contact me.

Till next time, keep on selling,

Jason Stevens