Winter is on its way! Leaves are falling, pumpkins decorate most homes and the mornings are getting colder. Here are some easy projects you can do to button your home up as you prepare for the cold Michigan winter. Most homeowners dont have thousands of dollars sitting around to invest in energy efficiency so these projects are mostly the low hanging fruit, usually pretty easy as wells as inexpensive but very effective.

One of the biggest areas of energy loss is the rim joists. These are the cavaties where the floor joists sit on the exterior walls. The best way to seal these up is buying a couple sheets of 2” EXP foam, cutting them into rectangles the size of the rim joist opening and foaming/ or caulking around the edges to seal it in place.
While you are down here look around all penetrations to the outside an make sure they are sealed up well!
Change your furnace filter. Changing the filter regularly will help your furnace run more efficiently.
Buy a few tubes of clear paintable/stainable caulk and go crazy. You are going to want to caulk around all the window trim, especially the bottoms and tops. Another spot to caulk is along the gap between the hardwood floor and trim on exterior walls.
Get a smart thermostat, being aware of your energy usage is one of the best ways to change habits and save money.
Buy some new weather stripping for your exterior doors and make sure they seal good when closed.
Remove cover plates from outlets/switces on exterior walls and seal gaps between the box and the drywall/plaster.
Seal around all penetrations into the attic (ceiling fans, lights, bath fans.) Seal all gaps between box and drywall/plaster.
If you have an attic fan you can easily create an airtight cover with foam board to seal it up for the winter from the inside of the house (just throwing fiberglass batts over it does not help much.)

These are some great places to start! If you need some additional guidance or want to come up with a full plan to make your home more efficient feel free to contact me at inkhomeservices@gmail.com to set up an energy audit.

Danny Geurink, Certified Master Inspector

Your Grand Rapids Home Inspector