Year after year we see the rising cost of energy and as a result, the rising cost of our power bills during the coldest winter months as well as during the hottest summer months. Unfortunately, most of us approach the matter from the wrong direction which doesn’t seem to help much for one very good reason. When we turn up our thermostat in the summer and turn it down in the winter, it won’t help very much if air is seeping through cracks around windows and doors. Weather stripping is a quick fix for doors, but windows are another matter altogether.
Did you know that at least 1/3 of all energy lost in the winter (and hot summer) months is because of leaky doors and windows? If you stop to think about that a minute, that is a significant amount of money! For example, if your energy bill is $300 (and that is really low for those months!) then you could actually end up with a $200 bill. Now consider that at say four months in the winter and the same amount in the summer. You could very well save $1,600 each year just by installing storm windows for climate control.
Getting back to the point, most people think that they merely need to adjust their thermostat. If the temperature is set at 68 degrees in the winter and it is 15 degrees outside, then your unit will still be working overtime to keep your home warm because of those cracks and leaks. Now then, it is much wiser to prevent air from entering your home so that your furnace/air conditioner won’t need to run as hard or as long. That is where the savings comes in. Adjusting the thermostat will simply add to that savings! A conservative estimate would add another 10% savings in climate control when installing protective windows and controlling your thermostat.
