Eau Claire (WQOW) - Winter officially begins December 21st, but most of us here in the Chippewa Valley are just beginning to feel the winter weather. We often bundle up to avoid loss of heat, but what about doing the same to your home?
"The more layers you can add between where air doesn't move, the more energy efficient it's going to be," said Marty Rosendahl, President of Glass Doctor in Eau Claire.
The Department of Energy says poorly insulated windows can add an extra 15 % on to your heating bill. Rosendahl says saving money on that bill can be easy, and inexpensive.
"You don't have to replace your wood windows with vinyl windows. Obviously that would get you the maximum energy savings, but you don't have to do that in order to get some energy savings. There are things you can do short of that," Rosendahl said.
So what are some options, and how do you know your windows may need some attention?
"You'll see a lot of that condensation build up on the inside of your window. You could sit there and just scratch your name in the condensation. Then you definitely want to be putting up storm windows on the outside, storm windows on the inside, or putting up plastic," said Rosendahl.
He says those options are quick and easy to do in your spare time.
"You don't need any special equipment to do that. A hair dryer is about as fancy as you have to get with that. Storm windows that go on the inside, those are things where again, no special tools necessary," Rosendahl said.
Sealing windows could take just a few minutes, or in the case of a large home, a few hours. The savings will last much longer.
"You can leave them in until you turn your heat off in the spring. So depending on the weather, you could be looking at four or five months, you could be looking at six or seven. Just depends on the year," said Rosendahl.
Replacing worn out weather stripping can also help seal your heat in. According to the Department of Energy, the typical American family spends at least two thousand dollars a year on utility bills.
