No powerball luck? Back to reality

by Craig Smith, Natural Resource Engineering Specialist

Yep, I checked and I am pretty sure that none of us won the $340 million Powerball Lottery (if you did, I apologize and you can disregard the rest of this article). So, I am sure that the recent surge of cold weather has gotten all of us thinking abut the upcoming winter and much-hyped energy price predications. There are no doubt many, many different options for minimizing energy use (replacement windows, new heating system, etc.) Many of these are great, but not everyone has a few thousand dollars lying around. The good news is that there are many simple and relatively inexpensive things you can do to optimize your current situation. The following items are ways to work toward an energy efficient home:

*Weatherstrip and caulk around doors, windows, baseboards and any other place where you can feel air coming in…Not doing this is equivalent to leaving a window wide open when it’s freezing outside.

*Replace furnace filters…Don’t make the furnace work so hard.

*Insulate attics with R-38 blow-in or batt insulation (10-12) inches thick)…Most heat in the house is lost to the attic.

*Regulate or install a programmable thermostat…There is no reason to keep the furniture warm while you are gone during the day.

*Put on another layer of clothes and throw another blanket on the bed…Get one of those electric blankets with dual heat controls and you will both be happy!

*Close off parts of the house not used very often…Once again don’t heat the furniture!

We all know that the less time the furnace runs, the more money we save. Performing the aforementioned duties will help everyone who suffered a broken heart when they didn’t call your Powerball numbers as well as those of us who were holding out for the jackpot to hit $500 million before we even started playing.