Want lower heating bills and cooling bills?

Foolish question...everyone would like the throttle the power companies...but, what can you do.

High efficiency equipment is a step in the right direction but very expensive. It might take years to realise any savings from a new high efficiency system. Most people want something they can do right now and it will show up on their next utility bill.

The biggest thief of your heating and cooling dollar is "outside air intrusion" little leaks here and there that add up to a lot of unconditioned air invading your living area. The offensive air comes in through little cracks and crevices around doors, windows and even down through your interior walls via the attic. All these small leaks can add up to be like leaving a door or window wide open. Your air conditioning/heating or HVAC system has to come on to either warm this invading air up or cool it down. ...and Every time your HVAC system comes on your fuel and electric bill goes up and money flies out of your wallet.

Attic insulation 

Most attics are not adequately insulated and it is not necessarily the amount of insulation in an attic...but, what kind of insulation and how it is installed. if you have ever felt around a wall outlet on an interior wall when it's cold outside and the wind is blowing, you might feel a puff of cold air coming out of the outlet. how does this cold air get into an interior wall. It gets there through the attic and the holes drilled in the top plate by the electricians/plumbers when they installed the wiring or plumbing

Nothing is better than more insulation and it doesn't cost much if you-- diy. Rent a machine from the local home store  and blow in some new insulation ...simple, easy and will save big bucks. Plus, and here's the good part.. the real tip. Use blown in cellulose insulation because it will settle ...where? It will settle in the cracks, crannies and holes and really plug things up...that's good. Did you ever take the face plate off an electrical outlet or switch and wonder why you can feel a puff of air if the wind is blowing? How the heck does that air get to an interior wall? I will tell you how, It comes through the attic vents and over to the holes drilled by the electrician or plumber and down through the open space between the studs and and blows on your feet and out into your house and on your thermostat. Result: your heater or a/c comes on and your meter goes round and round. ...and the boys down at the utility company are smiling all the way to the bank.

You might say: Heck, I'll just plug those attic vents.You could do that, but over a period of time...your roof shingles will curl up and die, because of poor ventilation to the underside of the roof.So ...insulate that attic good with blown in insulation. It's cheap ...I like that word-cheap...fits my personality. Speaking of cheap.What do you do for drafty windows? Now, I know you can call a contractor and he will figure a bid for replacement windows.Ahh...new windows, $500-$800 per window installed. Let's see, 10-15 windows ...times.Whoa...that's a lot of dough. ...and when you sell your house...you swell out your chest and proudly announce:"Hey, I got new windows."The buyer and realtor says: Yeah...Ok(big deal).Big Deal? $10-$20 large is a big deal to me...if I spend that kind of money, I would like some return on my investment.Right? Here's the catch on house windows. The window salesman flashes a big smile and proudly says: "These double or triple glazed Brand xyz have a 100% to 200% increase in insulating value over a regular single glazed window." 100-200%--sounds impressive ...where do I sign. Hmm...as my overly practical wife is fond of saying "Let's think about this.

"A single pane of glass has an R value of 1/2R value? ...what's that? Example: If a material has an R value of 1, then it can be said that the material has the same insulating value as 12" of stone. So...If a material or wall has an R value of 15 ( average insulated exterior wall) then, it can be said to have the same insulating value as a 15 foot thick wall of stone. Sounds archaic, like something carried over from the middle ages.R value can be said to be the insulation factor of a material or resistance to heat loss/gain.Anyway, back to the R value of window glass(glazing).Fact: A single pane of glass has an R value of about 1/2.1/2 R value. Pretty slim, when compared to the average exterior insulated house wall, which usually has an R value of about 15.Ok...Our new replacement window, which we happily purchased from the friendly salesman, has double glazing. Remember, we were sold on the 100 percent increase in efficiency.Now...why is our new window more efficient than our old window.Because it has DOUBLE GLAZING, and...Double glazing means that the new window has two panes of glass installed with a space between the panes usually filled with an inert gas(nitrogen,argon,etc.)Which means our new replacement window is a 100% more efficient than our old single glazed window.Uh-oh...here comes my wifey...saying:"Hmm, let's think about this."

How much did we gain? Why, 100% of course that's easy to figure.Math: 1/2 + 1/2 = 1 R value. A 100% gain. Wow! A 100 percent better....or maybe we really maxed the credit card and purchased TRIPLE GLAZED REPLACEMENT WINDOWS.Math: 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 = 1.5 R value. A 200% gain. Double wow! 200 percent better. Thinking again ...grind, grind...Holy cow, 500 bucks for a window and I only gained another 12 inches of rock. Hardly worth it. But:...a lot of the heat loss/gain is from the window frame.

Aluminum transfers heat/cold very well and has almost 0 insulating value. So, the outside temperature has an easy path inside your home. Ever noticed a lot of water condensing on your window sill when it's cold outside. Nasty and certainly irritating. Cold from outside is transferring through the window frame and meeting the warm moist air inside your home. The result is water running down your window sill...much like the condensation that forms on a glass of ice tea.Common aluminum windows or more precisely uncoated aluminum replacement windows have almost ZERO insulating material or R value on the frame.

 Enter vinyl replacement windows or vinyl coated wood replacement windows.Vinyl replacement windows insulate better than aluminum replacement windows....and, we all know wood is a pretty good insulator so, vinyl coated wood windows are even better. Manufacturer also have employed a multitude of fancy tricks that improve a replacement windows efficiency, do your research before you buy and get the best bang for your buck.