Reduce Your Heating Bills This Winter - Overlooked Sources of Heat Loss in the Home

Written by Mark D. Tyrol, P.E., www.batticdoor.com


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A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter just due torepparttar air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces!

Why Does a Home With a Fireplace Have Higher Heating Bills? Hot air rises! Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when your warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw - suckingrepparttar 100077 heated air from your house. This is like leaving a window open all year round! An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. A fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that sealsrepparttar 100078 damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow removed wheneverrepparttar 100079 fireplace is used, then reinserted after.

Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts:

Have you ever noticed thatrepparttar 100080 room containing your clothes dryer isrepparttar 100081 coldest room in your house? Ever wonder why? Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open torepparttar 100082 outdoors. Inrepparttar 100083 winter, cold air leaks in throughrepparttar 100084 duct, through your dryer and into your house, while your heated air just pours right out!

Dryer vents use a sheet metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stoprepparttar 100085 air leakage. Compoundingrepparttar 100086 problem is that over time, lint clogsrepparttar 100087 flapper valve causing it to stay open. This is like leaving a window open all year round!

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal! A dryer vent seal will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unlessrepparttar 100088 dryer is in use. Whenrepparttar 100089 dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint, and moisture to escape. If your home has a folding attic stair, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes. At Battic Door, we have developed low-cost, green solutions to these and other energy-conservation related issues. For more information please visit our website www.batticdoor.com or send a S.A.S.E. to P.O. Box 15, Mansfield, MA 02048.

We manufacture and distribute low-cost, high-value, air-leakage control energy conservation products for the three largest intentional openings in the house - the fireplace, the pull-down attic stair, and teh clothes dryer exhaust duct.

Our customers are homeowners, weatherization firms and programs, municipals, utilities and contractors. We also sell our product at a wholesale discount to distributors.


Decorating with rocks, the beauty of rustic decor

Written by Joseph Lewitin


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Stone can also be crafted into desk clocks, wall clocks, coasters, and more. Almost anything can be made from stone.

By bringing stone into a design scheme, you giverepparttar room a sense of solidarity. A rustic fealing, that you cant achieve easily in modern homes. It comes in almost any color you can imagine, and each item is one of a kind.

So next time you dissmiss rocks as just being, rocks, think aboutrepparttar 100076 many aspects of stone decorating that are out there.

Joey Lewitin is an author, a designer, and an artist. Check his website to see some of his creations such as a variety of unique stone wall clocks and rustic home decor gifts and furnishings


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