3 degrees
A new article is posted each day on Blunt Money, where you get plain talk about money and personal finance. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
We had 3 more of our windows replaced recently, bringing us up to 5 new windows out of 7. These were the next-least-efficient of our windows: one had a hole in it that let in rain, another had a pane that was about to fall out, and the third was just oversize and inefficient due to age. (They’re all original to the house, which was built in the 70’s.) Basically, they were extremely drafty, so we knew that replacing them would make a big difference.
But wow, I had no idea it would make THIS big a difference. Our heater is already running significantly less, and our house is staying warmer longer. In the past, we’d have our heater set for 63, and it’d be 62 in the house most of the time, with the heater running frequently. Now, we have our heater set for 63, and it’s 65 in the house. That’s three degrees warmer! And the heater hardly runs. I could get used to this.
I hope that the same positive effect happens for our air conditioner too. And of course things will only continue to improve when we’re able to replacing the remaining two windows + the sliding door.
January 26th, 2008 at 8:12 am
It’s so very smart to replace those windows, getting the house to be warm or cool without letting everything leaking outside AND you are doing them as you go which means you can pay as you improve your home.
My parents did a complete overall a couple years ago with new windows and siding which cut their heating bills to less than half what it was for a winter of heating oil. Smart move.
January 26th, 2008 at 10:30 am
A lot of people take windows for granted - old windows were really inefficient especially compared to the advancements that have been made to window construction.
January 26th, 2008 at 11:31 am
And think of the money you are saving! You should see a difference on your utility bill.
January 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
That’s a great idea. I just had my front door re-weather stripped, and the difference is astounding. My place is so much warmer and the heater doesn’t need to run as much. I wish more people realized how much fixing up windows and doing some weather stripping can save money in the winter!