KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Soon after Halloween, Smithville, Mo., resident Sandy Wymore began weatherproofing her large farmhouse in preparation for winter’s onslaught.
With the help of daughter Audrey Easley, Wymore covered the interiors of more than 15 windows along the north and west walls of her 4,400-square-foot home with thick, heavy-duty plastic. Over the plastic, Wymore hung curtains she made from quilts, providing an additional barrier to the cold.
“Last year I only got some of the windows covered,” said Wymore, whose setting on a hill leaves the house vulnerable to sometimes-fierce winds. “This year I got all the ones covered that I needed.”
Such measures can help take the sting out of winter, especially when temperatures plummet to zero and below. While some people might weather these arctic blasts cozily, many others are probably evaluating their weatherproofing, even in the middle of winter, to see where improvements can be made.
Energy-efficient windows and new storm doors might not be in your budget right now. But there are some simple and inexpensive steps you can take to stay warmer through the rest of winter and perhaps save on your heating bills. These tips should provide food for thought on how to be even better prepared for next winter and beyond.
Generally, many of these measures should be considered temporary and eventually more effective solutions should be found, said Bob Housh, executive director of the Metropolitan Energy Center in Kansas City.
He said that fixing leaks around windows and doors is among the most important weatherproofing steps you can take. But there also are hidden leaks in many homes, and your best bet is to have an expert do a professional examination such as a “blower door” test inside your home to find all leaks.
If you live in an older house that has not been fully weatherized, about 20 percent of your heating and cooling bills can be attributed to air leakage.
These tests can be expensive, depending on the size of your house, but a thorough job of sealing can cut your home’s air leakage by about 33 percent.
“You should view energy leaks in your house the same as water leaks in your roof,” Housh said.
If cold air is coming in around windows, you should be able to feel it with your hands.
Wymore, a Kansas City area nurse, has been replacing the original windows at her house with energy-efficient ones as her budget allows.
Costs run about $200 to $300 per window.
She also looked into purchasing heavy insulated curtains made especially for winter use but said the cost put her off. She decided she could make her own for less. She bought most of her quilts on sale, spending between $20 and $50 per quilt. She sewed seams along the tops, then hung them on heavy-duty dowel rods. She spent about $30 for the roll of heavy-duty plastic.
Easley said she used wide tape to seal the plastic around most of the windows, although she needed to use tacks in some spots because of the weight of the plastic.
And she followed exactly the steps the experts suggest to weatherproof windows.
Make sure your storm windows are completely closed. If you have double-hung windows, look at the sash lock. Make sure each sash is fastened securely and is in working order. Adjust locks so that the upper and lower sashes come together as you tighten the lock.
Not only did Wymore and Easley make sure this was done, they also caulked on the outside where necessary and made sure all storm windows were secure in their tracks.
With the beefed-up measures this winter, Wymore said, she already has noticed a big difference in her heating bill. With the extra insulation at the windows and with adjustments to the thermostat, her electric bill has been cut by about half this winter, from about $800 during a particularly cold month last winter to about $400 a month this winter.
If, after making sure your windows are tightly locked, you still feel cold coming in, energy experts offer these suggestions.
-Apply a strip of closed-cell vinyl foam tape of proper thickness to the bottom or top edge of the appropriate sash. You also can use this tape around your doors to fill in any gaps where you feel cold air coming through.
Prices depend on thickness, width and length. For example, you can get a 17-foot roll of one-eighth-inch thickness for about $2.79 and a 34-foot roll of three-sixteenths-inch thickness for about $3.79.
-Use transparent weatherstripping tape around the window sash.
Sutherlands has 2-inch-wide, 20-foot rolls for $3.29.
-Try caulking cord or rope caulk. It is highly effective at stopping unwanted air from entering the home. Prices for rope caulk at Sutherland’s ran about $3.29 for a 30-foot roll and $6 for a 90-foot roll.
-Try shrink-and-seal plastic on the interior of your windows. At the hardware store, expect to pay about $3.29 for one standard-size window to about $12.99 for a box that will cover five standard-size windows.
-If you just have blinds at your windows, think about hanging curtains over them for added insulation.
Housh suggested taking a look at the plumbing vent stack, usually inside the walls, that contains the plumbing pipe that runs from the basement to the attic. The passageway often is not insulated and allows cold air to flow down from the attic.
To stop the flow of cold air, check the vent where the pipe emerges in the attic. If there is no insulation there, seal around the area with fiberglass insulation, plastic or some type of material soft enough to shape around the area.
Something else to think about is insulating your plumbing. Around the outside of your home, shrubs, trees and fences can be used as windbreaks to shield your house from the cold. That’s something you should think about as this year’s spring planting season approaches.
Evergreen plants such as junipers and yews can be good choices, said Ward Upham of Kansas State University in Manhattan.
You should plant so there will be at least a foot of space between full-grown plants and your home’s wall.
