How can homeowners save money just by sitting on their couch? It’s simple, by conserving heating and cooling energy just before you sit down. There are a number of easy and inexpensive things that can be done as do-it-yourself projects that will save hundreds of dollars per year.
The easiest money saving strategy is to weather strip doors and windows with a “V” seal type weather stripping. The opening of the “V” should face towards the outside of the home. This will reduce draft in the house and retard heated or cooled air from escaping the house. And the longer the treated air remains in the house, the less the cost to treat the air.
Caulking around window and door frames and caulking around base boards will also retard the loss of treated air from the house. This strategy again will reduce the homeowner’s heating and cooling bill.
Both of these techniques can be accomplished as one weekend project. Do yourself a favor and save money, then grab a refreshment and sit down on your couch.
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What follows are 10 lessons from my “now I know better” collection. Perhaps these lessons learned will ease your transition from the city to wilderness.
1. Know thyselves. If you are a couple who bickers over which way to hang the toilet paper roll, don’t buy raw land.
The path from raw land to indoor plumbing is fraught with hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions. If you can’t pull as a team over the little things, how will your relationship survive decisions like where to sink a well (that one can be worth, oh, $20,000), where to put the kitchen, do we buy or rent equipment, do we build a log house or glue it up out of egg cartons? We built hte log house to make our Bed and Breakfast dream come true.
We have several guys (one of our neighbors included) sitting around our county amidst their half-finished projects all by themselves because the little woman couldn’t handle it and ran off mid-construction. On the other hand, we have another neighbor couple who knew that they weren’t cut out for the house building process. They bought undeveloped land and put a manufactured home on it. Save your marriage (or whatever) and buy a house.
2. Know thy neighbors. You may be under the false impression that since you are moving from more crowded to less crowded conditions that you will have more privacy and that neighbors matter less. Au contraire.
When looking at rural property, you will find yourself driving down many a dirt road. If there is more than one home on that road, it is a neighborhood, like it or not. Look closely at the homes and residents on that road. If your house catches on fire or you hack your leg off with a chainsaw, do you think you can depend on them to help? Fortunately here on our road up to the Fish Creek House, we have the greatest neighbors that’d help you out in the proverbial New York minute
When we were searching the great wilderness for our dream property,we drove down some rural roads that actually triggered the theme from Deliverance in the back of my brain. Find some excuse to go chat up some of the neighbors before you buy. Introduce yourself and ask them how bad the winters are, whatever, just get a feel for the folks you may have to trust with your life and property.
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Have you ever heard of using tile in your garden? Here are some ideas of how to “recylce” your used and broken tile.
The edging of a garden is almost as important as the garden itself. It’s like a picture frame. The picture can be interesting and beautiful, but it needs a frame to really enhance its appearance.
There are many different types of garden edgings. Many people prefer to use something heavy and permanent, like a low brick wall, or rocks set together with mortar. However, not everyone is physically capable of creating such a structure.
Bricks set freely can be just as effective. They can be placed in a simple line, end to end, or stacked in a double row, with gaps in between. They can also be set diagonally, leaning against each other for support.
Another attractive idea is to decorate short lengths of board with old tiles. Tiles can often be purchased very cheaply from re-cycling places. Glue your choice of tile along the board using an outdoor glue. On each end of the board, tack a peg with one end pointed. This will be used to push into the soil to support your board and keep it off the ground.
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Insulating your home is pure and simple the number one way to save money on energy costs. In the old days floors and walls were lined with just about anything to keep the moisture and cold air out of home. Renovations have revealed that even old newspapers were found packed into wall and floor boards.
Today insulating is a science all its own. There are R-factors assigned to different material and methods of insulating that give homes and buildings an appropriate amount of protection for their geographic region. The higher the R rating, the better insulated the home.
One of the top rated insulations is relatively new to the industry – probably no more than a couple of decades old – and that is blow in insulation.
The Benefits of Blow In Insulation
There are several benefits to blow in insulation over rolls of fibreglass insulation. The benefits include the method of installing it, its energy efficiency and where it can be used. Here are the top 5 reasons to consider using blow in insulation:
1. Blow in insulation is adjustable. Depending on how much material is used, it can create a protection with an R value of 15-38.
2. Only virgin materials are used to create most blow-in varieties of insulation. This means there a reduced chance of allergies.
3. Blowing the material into the crevices allows for a tighter fit and seal. It can be directed around corners, beams, or wiring that may already be in the walls.
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26 May 2011
