Winter is coming, along with all the holidays and the family get-togethers and yummy feasts. Oh, and don’t forget the snowball fights! While winter can be beautiful and it offers a lot of its own brand of fun, it also creates a lot of challenges, especially for homeowners. If your home’s insulation is subpar, or your windows and vents are not properly sealed, you could be losing money through escaped heat. Winter is on its way, and losing money is nearly as bad as being cold!
Your home’s foundation is an important part of its structure, but many homeowners don’t realize just how much energy they are losing through a lack of insulation or poor ventilation in their home’s crawl space. Covers are important for keeping the heat in during the winter, as well as keeping pests controlled all year long. Your foundation vents lose a lot of heat through the open vents, but can also allow in both moisture and cold air during the colder months. Winter can be hard enough on its own, but when you see your energy bill skyrocket, it makes the cold sting that much more!
This article discusses some simple tricks that you can use to save money on your power bill. These include things like bundling up and keeping the thermostat at a reasonable level, keeping mugs of hot tea or cocoa handy (never a punishment), and making sure you properly seal up your crawl space vent covers for winter. With some of these handy tips, you can keep your power bills lower, saving money for more fun things, like that hot cocoa budget!
Vent Covers Save Energy
Your home’s foundation vents are a big source of heat loss. While your home may have had unsightly styrofoam crawl space covers, these are environmentally unfriendly materials that fail to properly protect your home against winter conditions. Pests can also get in through these covers or damage them; rodents especially like to move indoors for the winter, and crawl spaces are some of their favorite places.
If you want to properly seal your foundation vent covers for winter, we recommend that you use durable, eco-friendly Vanity Vents. Available in a variety of colors, they add to your home’s curb appeal without sacrificing proper insulation. They’re impenetrable to rodents and don’t warp, bend, or break in the winter conditions, and unlike styrofoam, they’re easy to clean.
During the winter, a surprising amount of energy is lost through your crawl space vent covers. For winter energy saving, this is unacceptable. A tighter and more durable seal with Vanity Vent covers prevents the heat loss, meaning you don’t need to run your thermostat as high or for as long, which saves on your bill.
With Vanity Vent covers, you can make your foundation vents safer and less of an energy sink over winter.
Maintenance is Money
Preparing your foundation vent covers for winter is as easy as installing them properly and cleaning them when needed. Once installed and sized to fit snugly, the Vanity Vent covers will keep your crawl space vents well-sealed. You don’t have to worry about rodents getting in through the vents and turning your crawl space into their nest for the winter, where they can spread to the rest of the house.
With improved heat flow through your home’s foundation, you’ll be at less risk of your pipes freezing in subzero temperatures, saving you time and hassle of having to unfreeze them (or hire someone to do it) and leaving yourself without access to running water.
Moisture can also cause mildew and mold, and create those mustiness that many people associate with foundations and crawl spaces. Often, these odors can rise up into the rest of the house, creating an unpleasant smell that is embarrassing and difficult to mask. Extensive moisture damage can even require expensive repairs or preventative maintenance so that it doesn’t become more severe.
Additional Tips
It’s important to make sure that your heating system is regularly maintained. Heaters that don’t receive yearly maintenance are functional right up until the moment they aren’t – which is usually when you need it the most. Yearly maintenance gives you the opportunity to catch small problems early, which saves you money in the long run. Don’t wait until there’s snow on the ground to make sure your heater is properly maintenanced.
If you haven’t already, you should winterize your home! This means making sure that all exposed pipes (typically found in attics, garages, and crawl spaces) are properly insulated, heating and cooling systems are properly maintained/preserved, and outdoor water systems like sprinklers and hoses are drained and put away. You should also double check your door and window frames for cracks/gaps – keep that precious heat from escaping this winter!
These are just a few of the things you can do so save money on your power bill this winter, in addition to upgrading your foundation vent cover!
Keep Your Home and Bank Account Warmer This Winter
With the above tips, you can definitely save money this winter by keeping your energy bills lower. The best part is that you won’t have to sacrifice the comfort inside your house in order to save money. Properly-fitted Vanity Vents covers allow you to do both at once, which is always a bonus. They’re easy to install, affordable, eco-friendly, and effective for keeping your home safer, warmer, and improving its overall value.
If you have any questions, contact us or check out our FAQ page today to learn more!
