Efficiency

Jared and I just finished paying 3 months of ridiculous energy bills trying to make up for the summer months.  We got behind due to $500 plus electric bills.  We didn't even keep the house at an insane temp.  This summer it was 75 at night and 80 during the day.

Now that it's turned cold our house is frigid.  I assume the windows that were installed were "builder's grade."  They are drafty and seem to need at least some attention if not replacement.  That is ridiculous in a 6 year old home.

I've been reading online about how to make our home more efficient.

The first thing I did was flip the tiny switch on our ceiling fans to the winter setting.  Winter setting means it turns clockwise.  This alone can save you as much as 10% on your heating bills.  It simply pushes the warm air back down since warm air rises.

The next step was winterizing our drafty windows.  Several websites suggested plastic sheeting to seal the windows.  I purchased two of these at Wal-mart for $7 each.

 I started off downstairs in Graham and Elijah's room.  I had enough to do the coldest rooms but I will need one more package to finish.  The total spent will be $21 and I anticipate saving triple that on one month's bill.  The difference is dramatic and instant.

The sheeting goes on easily with clear double stick tape.  At first it looks like this:

 But wait!  Take out a blow dryer and slowly attack those wrinkles and in no time you can not tell it's there!  I was so impressed!!  I was worried it would be obvious from outside.  It is very discrete and the house is already remarkably warmer!  So thankful!!

Window on left has sheeting, window on right does not