Even though our winter has been mild so far, there are still chilly nights to deal with in the Carolinas. And the heat in your home can be the biggest energy waster if you're house isn't winterized properly.
This house near Lake Robinson was built in the early 1900s. But thanks to one Upstate company, it's now more energy efficient than ever.
“You could dust and then turn around and have to dust again.”
For Joe and Harriett Beam, their historic house was nice to live in but...
“I knew that we were having some duct problems and maintaining the temperature of the house that we'd like to,” says Joe.
Most older houses like these weren't built to the energy efficiency standards of today.
“It would be warmer in some places than other places,” explains Harriett.
“The entire body of air in the home was moving out of it twice an hour.”
Dean Benton of Benton Green Energy did an energy audit on the Beam's house and the readings were off the charts.
“You could never heat the house up fast enough before it was replaced with cold air,” says Benton.
So they got to work, sealing up the ductwork below, making the house more airtight, from the attic down.
“We did lots of insulation up there and the weather stripping on the doors.”
From thermal insulation to sealed doors and ducts, this old house feels new again.
“It's certainly better. It's easier to keep warm and the temperature stays around 70 when you bump it up there around 70.”
Keeping the heat in and the power bills down.
“What we paid to get it done will be paid for in a couple of years,” says Joe.
Typically in the winter, the air in your house moves out faster than in the summertime, due to the greater temperature differences. Just by winterizing your home to make it more airtight, you could save 20 percent on your energy bill.
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