25 Cheap Tricks to Keep Heat Inside All Winter (Easy Fixes)

🔗 Save Thousands on Repairs, Replacements and Power Bills — My Complete Home-Saving Method: https://nakamurasecrets.com Your furnace can run all winter and still lose. The Department of Energy's own air sealing guide says the air leaks in most existing homes add up to an open window, and the EPA says the most significant ones in most homes are hidden in the attic and the basement. Here are 25 cheap ways to keep your heat inside, counted down from the windows to the attic. The rule that orders them: warm air rises, pushes out at the top of the house and pulls cold air in at the bottom. ENERGY STAR estimates that air sealing plus insulating attics, floors over crawl spaces and basement rim joists saves an average of 15% on heating and cooling. I'm Richard Nakamura. I fixed appliances for thirty years. The numbers come from the Department of Energy, ENERGY STAR, two national laboratories and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. I didn't measure any of it myself. A few of the 25: • A window air conditioner left in all winter leaks like a 5-square-inch hole in the outside wall (NREL, for the DOE) • 75% of window coverings stay in the same position every day (DOE). In winter they should move twice a day • Drapes can cut a warm room's heat loss by up to 10%, but only when they're sealed at the top and sides • Cellular shades cut heat loss through the window by 40% or more, which DOE says works out to about 10% of your heating • Plastic shrink film, which ENERGY STAR calls easy, effective and inexpensive • Bubble wrap on the glass: the only trick here with no measurement behind it from any lab or university • Two free tests: the dollar bill and the incense stick • Weatherstripping, caulk for gaps under ¼ inch, and the gap under your door (keep it under ¼ inch) • Why closing the registers in empty rooms backfires (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) • The thermostat setback worth up to 10% a year, and the two times not to do it: with a heat pump, and in bitter cold • A water heater blanket: 7–16% on an electric tank, nothing on a gas one • A fireplace can pull up to 300 cubic feet of heated room air a minute up the chimney • Number one: the attic hatch, and the 10-second insulation check Safety: the CPSC's four space heater rules are in the video. If anything in your house burns fuel, or you have an attached garage, put in a carbon monoxide alarm. 🔗 Save Thousands on Repairs, Replacements and Power Bills — My Complete Home-Saving Method: https://nakamurasecrets.com SOURCES • DOE, Energy Saver Guide (2022) — https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-08/energy-saver-guide-2022.pdf • DOE Building America, Air Sealing guide — https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/building_america/ba_airsealing_report.pdf • EPA/ENERGY STAR, DIY Guide to Sealing and Insulating — https://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/publications/pubdocs/DIY_Guide_May_2008.pdf • ENERGY STAR, Why seal and insulate — https://www.energystar.gov/saveathome/seal_insulate/why-seal-and-insulate • ENERGY STAR, Plastic over windows — https://www.energystar.gov/saveathome/seal_insulate/plastic-over-windows • ENERGY STAR, Maintenance checklist — https://www.energystar.gov/saveathome/heating-cooling/maintenance-checklist • DOE/NREL, Window air conditioners — https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/11/f5/case_study_ac_installation_guide.pdf • DOE, Window coverings (archived) — https://web.archive.org/web/20260702192622/https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficient-window-coverings • DOE, Air sealing your home (archived) — https://web.archive.org/web/20260627190912/https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/air-sealing-your-home • PNNL, Doors — https://basc.pnnl.gov/resource-guides/air-sealing-doors-adjacent-unconditioned-space • PNNL, Attic access — https://basc.pnnl.gov/resource-guides/air-sealing-attic-access-panelsdoorsstairs • PNNL, Dryer venting — https://basc.pnnl.gov/resource-guides/proper-clothes-dryer-venting • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Register closing — https://homes.lbl.gov/publications/register-closing-effects-forced-air • DOE, Insulation guide — https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/11/f5/insulation_guide.pdf • DOE, Water heater blanket (archived) — https://web.archive.org/web/20260608191306/https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/do-it-yourself-savings-project-insulate-water-heater-tank • DOE, Wood and pellet heating (archived) — https://web.archive.org/web/20250203000000/https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/wood-and-pellet-heating • CPSC, Portable heaters — https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/heaters.pdf • American Red Cross, Frozen pipes — https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/winter-storm/frozen-pipes.html #winterizing #homeownertips #heatingbill #energysaving #homemaintenance #diyrepair