Winter weather can make you feel like your home is under siege. When the howling winds are blowing, snow is piling up around your house, and the temperature drops below zero, you want to make sure your castle is fit to ride out the storm. With appropriate insulation in place, you can remain relatively comfortable in your home no matter what’s going on outside. But a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And in the case of most homes, the weak links are the windows and doors. So even if you have awesome insulation in the walls, you’re bound to feel drafts and cold spots if your windows and doors aren’t properly weatherized. Luckily, you can take several steps in a wide range of prices to make your home more comfortable in both winter and summer. Here are a few tips to help you weatherize windows and doors.
The place to begin is with weather stripping and leaks. Over time, wooden surfaces can swell and shrink as the temperature and humidity change. And the weather stripping that’s already in place can deteriorate. So you might want to pick up some inexpensive and easy-to-install weather stripping at your local hardware store to fill the gaps. You should also think about caulking or otherwise adding sealant around seams where air leaks seem to occur. In fact, you could hire a home energy auditor to help you. This may sound like a silly idea, but it’s the job of a professional energy auditor to find areas where energy waste is occurring in your home, including leaks where your bought air is getting out. In short, the report you get from this service will tell you exactly where you need to seal up leaks around windows and doors (not to mention other areas).
But you can do a lot more than these simple fixes. If your windows don’t seem to be up to the task of keeping the cold at bay, consider adding storm windows. When properly seated, such additions trap air between windows and add an extra layer of insulation. You can purchase pre-made options, but even a wooden frame wrapped in heavy plastic sheeting could make a difference. Or if you’re really looking to upgrade, you could do away with single-paned windows and install double-paned products. You might even switch to modern materials like vinyl, plastic, or fiberglass that won’t suffer the same deterioration as wood over time.
As for your doors, you could certainly upgrade those, as well. And a good place to start looking is EnergyStar.gov. This website offers plenty of solutions for homeowners seeking products that will make for more energy efficient houses. And the doors and windows you select could have a major impact on how much energy you use to keep your home warm or cool. There are also companies like Lyndhurst Lumber that can offer you eco-friendly solutions when it comes to replacing the windows and doors in your home. With a bit of research you should have no trouble finding the appropriate products to weatherize your home. And the money you spend up front will come back to you in energy savings over time.