Homeowner’s Academy
This is your guide to interesting facts, tips and general homeowner information. We hope you find the information useful – and feel free to share with friends!

7 Tips for Shrinking Your Home Heating Bills

Spring cleaning often comes with a fresh coat of paint. Painting can be a great way to change the feel of a room or give your home some great curb appeal. Painting also plays a role in home repair by protecting the wood of your home against the elements, essential here in Florida.

If you decide to try your hand at painting this spring, People’s Trust has some tips that can keep the experience enjoyable and safe for everyone in your family.

Try Some Eco-friendly Paint

Spring conjures up the sniffles for many people in the great outdoors, but paint may do the same thing inside of your home. Household paints have previously contained up to 300 toxic chemicals, including the hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that release particles into the air for years after you paint.

Try a low-VOC paint, which tends to be water-based, for any home interior painting. These have taken off in recent years and come in every shade and finish imaginable. Some brands also create no-VOC paints by replacing chemicals with more natural ingredients. These no-VOC paints are often pet-safe, but always check the label and never leave your pet unattended in a room where paint cans are open.

Home Repair Supervision

If you have children, never let them be in a room with open paint cans by themselves. If children are under the age of 10, they should never be in a room with any open painting materials. Even eco-friendly paints are extremely dangerous if ingested. If you believe your child has ingested any paint, immediately call poison control at 1-800-222-1222.

Try Cloth Catchers for Indoor and Outdoor Painting

You can pick up plastic sheets to protect your floors and lawn, but these often move and tear as you walk around painting. Turn to cloth or canvas drop cloths that will stay in place easier and can be weighed down with objects without the risk of tearing.

For painting the outside of your home, try a tarp with tie-holes. These can be staked into the ground to provide a steadier surface for a ladder.

Ventilate: Make Room to Breathe

If you’re painting inside, open the doors and windows. If your room has a fan, turn it on. You want proper ventilation for any space you’re painting to help air out the room and not breathe in paint fumes. If you can’t ventilate where you’re working, get a respirator and only paint in short stints.

Ventilation is essential to most common home repair improvements.

Stick to the Shade

If painting outside, you know that you need to take a break in the shade, but what about your materials? Paint, paint thinner and lacquer all need to stay in the shade as much as possible when painting outdoors.

Not only can heat and sun alter some of these items when they’re sitting in the can, but heat can also be a big problem for these flammable items. The city of Las Vegas actually warns its citizens to be careful when painting their homes or canvases outside because paint thinner has been ignited by the sun and started home fires.

Clean Up after Home Repairs

When you finish painting for the day, clean up the entire space. This will prevent spills and any accidental exposure.

Latex paints can typically be cleaned from surfaces and your skin with soap and water. Oil-based paints will have specific cleaning instructions located on the paint can itself. Take a look at your can before you start painting and write down what it says, because paint often spills on the outside of the can during the painting process.

Gasoline was once used to clean paint off of brushes, but this should never be used. Gasoline is extremely dangerous and should never be used as a cleaner for any object.

It’s always a smart practice to clean up and watch your space clearly when doing any home repair project.

by PTI Marketing | Jan 14, 2015

If you live in Florida, you likely take steps each summer to shrink your cooling bills, but do you the same with heating costs during winter?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, space heating is the largest energy expense in the average U.S. home, accounting for approximately 45% of energy bills.

We’ve rounded up seven top tips to help you shrink your home heating bills while staying warm this winter.

1. Inspect and Replace Air Filters Regularly

Have your air filters become infiltrated with dust, dirt and grime? Energy Star recommends inspecting air filters once a month and replacing them every three months, if not more frequently.

Why is this so important? As dust and dirt accumulate in the filter, the sediment slows down airflow, making it more difficult for the air filter to release warm or cool air, which ultimately wastes energy and money.

Replacing air filters on a regular basis prevents build-up, saving money on energy costs, as well as future HVAC maintenance costs.

2. Run Your Ceiling Fan Year-Round

While Floridians typically use ceiling fans to keep cool, they can also be used to make the most out of heat energy.

To make your fan heat-friendly, set it to a low speed, spinning clockwise. This allows warm air stuck near the ceiling to ventilate throughout the room, reducing the need to turn up the heat on the thermostat.

By taking this simple step, you can save as much as 15 percent on your annual heating costs.

3. Use Exhaust Fans Less Often

There are several household activities homeowners do that generate heat, including cooking and taking a shower. Keep that heat circulating throughout your home by turning off kitchen and bath exhaust fans, or at least using them for less than five minutes at a time.

Also, consider installing high-efficiency exhaust fans for extra long-term savings.

4. Turn Down the Temperature

According to the Smart Thermostat Guide, lowering your thermostat by a single Fahrenheit degree during winter can shave roughly 1-3% off your heating bill.

Turning your thermostat down 10-15 degrees while at work or out of town can slash your annual heating bill by 5-15%.

Also, consider investing in a programmable thermostat. This will allow you to schedule when the heat turns on each day, ensuring that you are not wasting warmth on an empty house.

5. Close Curtains at Night

Do you close your home’s curtains before crawling into bed at night?

While most homeowners close their curtains every evening for privacy and security purposes, practicing this simple routine also keeps warm air INSIDE and cold air OUTSIDE.

NOTE: Keep curtains open during the day to let the wonderful Florida sunshine heat up your home at no cost.

6. Roll Out a Rug

Do you live in a home with wood, tile or concrete flooring? If so, keep your feet and your humble abode warm by adding a rug to commonly used areas, like the living room and bedrooms.

Not only do rugs give your home a cozy appearance, they also help to retain heat, preventing it from leaking through flooring and foundation.

7. Replace Worn Weather-Stripping

When was the last time you replaced your weather-stripping? According to Popular Mechanics, as much as 7-12% of a home’s heating loss occurs around windows and doors.

This warm air loss also causes your home’s heating system to work harder, wasting energy and money. Replacing worn weather-stripping is one of the cheapest, easiest and most effective ways to shrink your energy bill.

Inspect weather-stripping on windows and doors at least once a year to make sure it is in good condition. If it needs to be replaced, follow these six steps to easily install new weather-stripping:

Step 1: Peel existing weather-stripping off the door or window edge.

Step 2: Clean the edges of your window or door with soapy water. Let them dry completely before proceeding to Step 3.

Step 3: Carefully measure the top and side edges and cut weather-stripping to size with a utility knife.

Step 4: Carefully peel the back off the cut piece of weather-stripping.

Step 5: Press the new weather-stripping into place, along the edges of the window or door. Ensure the weather-stripping sticks by applying it when the temperature is 50-80 degrees outside.

Step 6: If you are weather-stripping a door, cut a door sweep to size, then screw it into place at the bottom of the frame.