Weatherizing Your Home
by John Marc Green
CBS 42 News
2007-11-27 20:00:00.0
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It doesn't take much money or expertise to take some simple steps that can make a big difference in your utility bills this winter.
I went to both Lowe’s and Home Depot this month to see where to get the best advice and the best deals in weatherizing your home.
Our two tour guides for the do-it-yourself face-off were Gary Pritchett at the Home Depot and Eddie Fieselman at Lowe's. We went to the stores on Highway 280 in Hoover less than a mile away from each other.
Our first stop was at Home Depot.
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"This time of the year as you're having the changes in the seasons, and temperature changes are pretty dramatic, so what you want to do is every window in your house be it a window or a door needs to be secured," said Gary.
This is probably the number one thing you need to take care of first…gaps and cracks can turn your house into a sieve that just won't hold heat. Gary showed us a wide selection of caulk.
"This particular item is an all purpose sealant," said Gary.
And weather stripping, along with a good reason for getting rid of last year's foam stripping.
"It has to be replaced from time to time because its foam rubber and it's going to collapse after a prolonged period of time…you want to use a product very similar to this and it's very inexpensive," said Gary.
Eddie Fieselman down the road at Lowe's had a similar display of caulk, which also included smaller tubes that don't require a caulk gun, and another nifty item: caulk on a roll.
"Instead of having to deal with messy caulk you can put this up, it's like a tape similar to the weather stripping you just unroll it, cut it and stick it right on there and it does the same thing as caulk," said Eddie.
After asking about storm windows, they both informed me that my 25 year old single pane windows are probably costing me more than I want to know.
“You save a fortune if you switch to double pane," said Eddie.
"If you have single pane windows, you're losing money right now," said Gary.
Nick Bishop specializes in storm windows.
"Biggest thing is to always measure your window. No two windows are ever alike so you always want to have a measurement and know what you're looking for when you come in," said Nick.
And I even got some installation tips from Eddie.
"Stick it up over the other window and just screw it in. If you want to do a really good job you could caulk it on the top and the sides, but not to cover these little gaps in the bottom here that let any kind of moisture that gets in vent out," said Eddie.
Whether you want to switch to double panes or install storm windows, both Lowes and the Home Depot have installation crews.
They both showed us some more energy savers like faucet covers and air filters, which are their most requested items due to the need for regular replacement.
One item that both stores carried but which both also had a hard time locating were insulating switches and outlet sealers, a cheap but effective way to prevent energy loss through some of the biggest unseen holes in your house.
While both stores carried similarly priced versions of the same basic items, each one showed us a few things the other team missed or didn't carry. We didn't check which, like air deflectors and magnetic vent covers.
"The vents of your air conditioning system, these are magnetic and all you do is just stick ‘em up to the vent and they will just stay there and stop any air from leaving that room," said Gary.
And patio door kits at Lowe’s that we did not see at the other store.
“You cut it and put it on your windows and then use a hair dryer to blow it and it just shrinks onto your door, and it increases your R-value which keeps out all the different temperatures," said Eddie.
All the items we've looked at so far fall into a price range between a few cents to around $40 in the case of the storm windows. Both stores also carry items beyond the scope of a simple weekend project like attic insulation and programmable thermostats which might require installation.
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