Changing your air filters regularly keeps your household energy costs down and extends the life of your HVAC unit(s).  It’s important, however, to use air filters that actually work. 

Walk into any hardware store and you’ll see a host of filters at various price points, starting at 99 cents.  Before you reach for the cheapest products, though, watch the 1-minute video above.

A mesh filter isn’t going to stop most airborne particles.

Because buying the recommended pleated air filters can be expensive, consider purchasing in bulk from a store like Home Depot, or from Amazon.  Air filters don’t “go bad”, you can store your discounted filters until they’re ready for use.

Experts recommend changing air filters quarterly at minimum.  If your home has shedding pets or is dust-prone, consider changing them monthly.

To Search Active Real Estate Listings in Your Area, Visit www.webdigs.com

I kinda yanked your chains the other day when I mentioned the Kill-a-Watt testers that aren’t available in your area. I felt bad about that so I found something that can be purchased reasonably.

It’s the Reliance Amwatt Appliance Load Tester ($25). Plug an appliance into the tester and then the tester into the outlet. When you turn the appliance on, you’ll get a quick digital reading in watts or amps. It will also tell you what the energy needs of the appliances are when these machines are off.  That’s where plugging appliances into a high quality power strip  can save you money.

The amount of standby power wasted varies among electronic equipment, but overall, the cost to consumers and businesses for all the electricity lost to vampire power in the US is estimated to be $4 billion annually. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates the global energy consumption due to standby power at between 200-400 terawatts per year says the Grinning Planet website.

But buying this just to stalk vampire appliances might not seem quite worth it. So here’s another reason to own one. It will help you “right size” an emergency generator or calculate your power needs for a generator’s home transfer switch (the gizmo that brings the emergency power online automatically) to your specific home.

Hey, winter’s coming and I remember an ice storm that had the power out at my parent’s house for nearly three weeks!

One buys a generator based on what you think your energy needs are. It sounds easy to walk around your home and read the wattages on the labels. What may surprise you are that that individual appliances pull wattages different than those listed or even from each other. That’s because an appliance like a microwave may be marketed as “1000W” referring to its cooking energy, but because of various inefficiencies requires far more wattage to run.

So to get a good handle on the size generator to buy, use the load tester - and then hunt electrical vampires for fun.

 Okay, these nifty little meters aren’t available in the Twin Cities yet, but how neato are these kilowatt meters that can gauge how much your appliances use?  They are available at some libraries around the state and can be checked out for a week with a library card.

I had been thinking about writing about vampire appliances when I came upon the Kill-A-Watt poster at my Duluth library. These are the everyday things we have plugged in that pull electricty even when they’re not on.

Apparently coffee makers are a big vampire pulling on average 20 watts per hour just sitting there! If you’re interested in finding out more about this, you can read the Star Tribune blog about building a green house from the ground up.

Of course it is a good idea to unplug items anyway as small appliances are a chief cause of house fires.

I was walking in my livingroom a couple days ago and got a brisk breeze on my ankles. It was coming from my outlet. A little investigation and I found all the receptacles on the outside walls were admitting a stiff wind.

An infrared photo showing the heat loss would have been pretty cool.

Power companies typically offer some kind of subsidized energy audit program. In the Twin Cities, Xcel Energy’s costs $35, takes about two hours, and this time of year can usually be completed within a week of the initial customer call, according to Xcel’s Tom Hoen. (www.xcelenergy.com)

Links to other power company’s home (and business) audit programs can be found at Minnesota’s Energy Challenge (http://www.mnenergychallenge.org/resources/).

The big box stores had a $1.87 solution - Electric outlet Switch Sealants (pictured above). This little piece of insulation has made a big difference.  Now if I were putting this house on the market, I’d think this little fix would be a good deal, but I might also swap out the whole outlet for one that hadn’t been lazily painted over. When selling a house neatness counts and can create a bigger picture of how a home has been tended to over the years.

Habitat for Humanity: How to Build a House, revised and updated

Here’s a great book that came across my desk recently.  I learned a lot of elemental stuff about home building and think it would be a great present to the first time home owner. It’s a lot easier to make repairs on a house if you can understand how it came together in the first place.

This book jumps into what is arguably the largest DIY how-to project with this hopeful statement: “Not everyone is a master carpenter. Fortunately for most of us, it’s possible to learn.”

For nearly 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has been showing laypeople the art of home construction. So it’s with a cultivated teaching voice (think your favorite uncle) that everything from how to read a measuring tape to pouring footings and sheathing a roof is patiently explained.

Filled with useful photos and illustrations, this book is a handy reference for those looking to construct big dreams. Amazon offers a sneak peek here.

Taunton Press, Publisher, www.taunton.com (203) 426-8171, soft cover, 282 pages, 370 photos $27.95.

Here’s a follow-up to Tom’s fine post the other day.

Hey, is that the Virgin Mary out the window? Answer: Yes, long story.

The windows in the home we’re renting have been breezy lately, so I sucked it up and headed to a big box retailer to see the options. Years ago as a college student renting a room I remember attempting to put plastic on my window - and it was a nightmare. Do you remember the Thanksgiving Peanuts Special where Snoopy tries to open a folding chair and they (the dog and the chair) end up wrestling and boxing? It was a little like that.

So I’m delighted to say that in nearly 20 years the insulative window plastic has improved dramatically. It’s now made for easy application for one thing. The top end of the folded plastic has an adhesive built-in so you just roll on the top of the window frame. The package also includes double-sided tape for the sides and bottom. After you apply the tape, unfold the plastic, stick and trim.

And the kicker is the last step of melting the plastic taunt with a dryer ACTUALLY WORKED. It’s tight as a drum and you wouldn’t know it’s there unless of course, you know it’s there.

The box says it will save $200 a year if you do all your windows. I have no idea if that’s true, but it has cut the breeze to nothing. To me, that’s well worth my $10 bucks. Last night we read our nightly books on the bed  near the window and all that cozy was well worth the 10 minutes of effort.

Not Properly Caulking Your Windows Leaks as Much Air as Leaving Them Open:

If the amount of air that leaked from a typical home’s gaps and cracks was measured, it would equal the amount of air that leaves through an open window. 

This is why so many Home & Garden experts recommend a recaulking of your home prior to the Winter – a solid caulk job can reduce a home’s Winter energy bill by 20 percent.

In this 2-minute video from Home Depot, learn how you can to identify leaky windows, and then how to fix them using caulk, putty knives and a host of other tools.  Or, if DIY is not your style, find a competent contractor online. 

The project is small so the costs should be low.  For more on Home Maintenance visit Webdigs.com and click on Home Improvement Tips under the “Sell” tab…or click here.

Both new and old forced air systems need some basic maintenance to keep them running smoothly:

1. To conserve energy during the active part of the day, it is best to set the thermostat at a reasonable comfort level and leave it alone rather than continuously adjusting it.
2. To further conserve fuel, install a programmable thermostat to raise and lower temperatures according to your family’s schedule.
3. Check the filter at least monthly during the heating season. Permanent, cleanable filters should be cleaned often, disposable type filters should be replaced when dirty.
4. Make sure all the heat supply dampers on room registers are in the open position and not blocked by furniture or drapes.  In some cases, a diverter can be used to redirect flow. These are available at most hardware stores.
5. Consider acquiring an annual service contract with a local utility or service company, especially if fueled by an oil burner.  A qualified service technician will clean the burner and the heating surfaces; adjust duct dampers (if present); readjust controls, motors and fans; and, in older units, adjust the belts.

Remember - these tips are general guidelines.  Since each situation is different, contact a professional if you have questions and a specific issue.  For service contracts in the Minneapolis / St. Paul Metro area, Centerpoint Energy ( Minnegasco  ) has Home Service Plus.  It can be a great way to keep all your appliances on a regular maintenance schedule which should prolong their life.

Remember  just a couple years ago when the Home Depot was so freakishly busy that you couldn’t even get arrested there if you tried? A friend who used to work there admitted that associates would hide from customers and even take off their apron while working on shelves just to get some peace.

Well now HD, and all their big box brethren, are all but swooping and falling over you. The last time I was there, three people asked if they could help me find my new toilet flap. It was dreamy. (I am a simple woman, my dreams are small.)

And more than ever they’re trying to get the gals in. The Home Depot has long offered classes, but now they’re doing more woman-only sessions.  Tonight the North East Minnapolis Home Depot at the Quarry is offering a “Do-it-Herself” class on winterizing your home.  You can read more about it here. Maybe they didn’t think they could talking about caulking in mixed company.

I think this is pretty smart. It grabs the person of the family who often is in charge of the budget and shows them its really not about boys and their toys.  And more than any year, we need to be looking at tightening up our homes so a winterizing class is perfect.

If you want to learn more about why you should get an energy audit, I highly encourage you to read this great article by my friend Brent at The Family Handyman. It has many great tips for saving money this winter.

And about the house I saw the other day?  Sadly, I really liked it so now we’re toying with how we could finance it. More to come.  Honestly, the whole subject makes my head hurt.

Copper Scrubbers - enemy to comfort-seeking mice

Yep, the mornings are crisp - and not just for you. It’s getting cold out there for the little woodland creatures, too and when it comes to your house they want in.

Most pests simply walk right into your house through holes in your exterior. Fortunately, it’s not a complicated task to seal up the cracks.

Caulk any cracks, holes and gaps in the siding * (detailed boring instructions below,) but look under the siding where it meets at the foundation. When I did this last fall, I used a mirror to peek underneath and I found a good-sized opening. It was an “ah-ha” moment for me and a bummer for mice as I had finally found their expressway into my cozy ranch-house.

Because I only had a few gaps to fill, I bought a box  of Chore Boy copper scrubbers from a small hardware store for about $3. If you find a bunch of gaps, it may be cheaper to purchase a professional copper mesh product like CopperBlocker or Stuf-fit available online at: www.nixalite.com for about $30 bucks for a 100 ft. roll.

Tempting as it is don’t try to get by with steel wool.  It will rust away over time and you’ll find yourself back where you started.

Caulking 101:

For those holes smaller than 1/4th-in. acrylic latex caulk is good gap filler because it’s inexpensive, paintable and easy to use.

But caulk won’t last long in wider gaps.

For a bigger opening choose other products like expanding foams and polyurethane caulk. Expanding foam can fill any size gap, but rodents can gnaw at it. Another drawback of foam is that it can look pretty craptasktic.  So for gaps up to 1/2 –in. wide, choose the polyurethane caulk, which is messy to use, but becomes a smooth, paintable surface.