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Use Your Windows to Help You Save Money

October 31, 2007 Leave a Comment

Electricity bills are always their lowest in the fall and spring, and your windows can help make them even lower and and help you to lower your bills this winter.

  • This winter open your blinds and curtains on sunny days, allowing the sun to warm your home, and close them at night to keep the cool out.
  • On mild days open your windows. Where I live at this time of year the weather can be unpredictable. In the morning I’m wearing a jogging suit and in the afternoon I may be wearing shorts. Rather than using your heating/cooling system, opening your windows can help you to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home. The sun helps to heat your home, and opening the windows allows a breeze to blow in, cooling your home and also airing your house out.
  • Repair cracked windows. You can save energy and money by making sure that your home is properly sealed. Check your windows for cracks, and repair them with caulk and weather stripping.
  • Replace old windows. According to the Alliance to Save Energy (ase.org) you should replace old, rattling single-pane windows. Old single-pane windows do not properly insulate homes. Replacing them can not only help reduce your heating/cooling bills, but it will also help reduce your risk of condensation and reduce the risk of the sun fading out your furniture and other fabrics.
  • Buy “black out” curtains. Black out curtains help to keep light out of your home. They can also help to keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Filed Under: Home/Garden, saving money

The Importance of Cleaning Up Fall Leaves

October 28, 2007 Leave a Comment

Almost everyone loves the fall leaves: the way they color the trees, the crunching sound they make beneath your feet, but most people hate to have their yards covered with them. Often it becomes a toss up decision: What do I hate worse? All the leaves? Or having to rake the leaves? And this toss up usually determines whether or not we clean up our yards.

Sometimes, especially if you have a busy schedule, it is hard to find the time to rake the leaves, and it is especially annoying to spend an afternoon raking, only to find your yard covered in leaves again the very next day. This leads a lot of people to beg the question: Why bother?

Personally I do not have a problem with leaves to begin with, as we only have a few trees in our yard to deal with; however, if you have a yard with a lot of trees, the leaves tend to pile up pretty fast. But whether you have one tree or several trees, there are benefits to cleaning up the leaves.

The following link is to an article about why it is important to have a clean, “fall leaf free” yard, and it also tells you some things you can do with the leaves:
Why You Should Clean the Leaves & What to do with the Leaves

Also, check out this article about composting your leaves.
How To Compost Leaves

Filed Under: cleaning, fall, Home/Garden
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