How many of you have your house/flat air sealed? We all spend tons of money heating it, but at the same time we don't spend the necessary amount to keep the heat inside and this is as important as heating it. Have you sealed your house?
I am not sure what air sealing is. However, I have double glazing in all the windows and the house and roof are insulated to keep heat in. I also replaced my old, inefficient boiler. Gas and electricity are a fortune at the moment in the UK so any steps you can take to save the money on heating and lighting bills is important.
Air sealing basically is preventing the warm air to get out from the small spaces between the windows and the wall or doors, that totally energy inefficient. It's like, I'm warming up the air and at the same time cold air is getting in and I need to put the heat even higher.
In the winter, I'll take a plastic seal to the old windows in my house. I've noticed that this saves me quite a lot of money, but it is a bit of a nuisance---it takes most of the day to apply the plastic seal, and it doesn't look very classy when it's done! I'll probably spring for a new window installation soon.
It certainly is very expensive. Unfortuantely my house is quite poorly sealed, our external doors are wooden so the summer/winter expense means that there are gaps underneath. I generally only keep 1 room heated at a time, and even then bills are very expensive.
My house is not really well sealed. I can heat the house but in the winter it is normally really cold even if I turn that thing up for more heat. I think it is about time to get a professional to seal the house and make it more habitable during the cold season.
It's a matter of doing the math, if we are paying three times more electricity to warm up the house, I think it might be well worth it to seal it, even if the starting investment is higher in a few months we will our our place more energy efficient.
I've never really had much trouble keeping my place warm in the winter, but then again I've been living in apartments, so I suppose I am getting the benefit of some of the residual heat coming from the other units and the heat running in the hallways of the building itself. I keep my window blinds shut most of the time (mainly for privacy, but it also keeps out the drafts). I also have a tendency to leave a lot of my lights on throughout my place, so they give off residual heat as well, as do my oven and my dishwasher. If it gets particularly cold, I just carry a portable heater from room to room with me to keep me warm in that spot instead of cranking my heat up throughout my whole place. I've also heard that if you have ceiling fans, that turning them on reverse will make your place feel much warmer - it will draw the cold air up and the warmer air down.
I've noticed a big difference between southern countries in Europe (Portugal and Italy for example) where the homes are usually fresher in the summer and colder in the winter. If you go to Moscow for example the apartments are always warmer, they were built to endure colder temperatures even with no improvements.
