MILWAUKEE — Devin Hawthorn, the owner of Weatherization Services in Milwaukee, is preparing for another Wisconsin winter. He said weatherizing a home ahead of the winter months can save some people up to 20% on their electric bill.
While he recommends having your home properly insulated by a reputable company, there are a few things you can do yourself.
“Looking at windows, you can use that plastic wrap that some people use their hair dryer on and help seal the windows. If you’re feeling drafts, they also have different type of caulk to seal those,” he said.
He encouraged Wisconsinites to check their HVAC systems before turning on the heat.
“Having the unit serviced and turning it on and making sure it works properly,” Hawthorn said. “You don’t want to be the one that calls in an emergency situation. Then, also making sure if you do have furniture that’s tight against heat vents, that you pull that off a little bit to make sure you get proper airflow.”
David Michalski, the owner of Restoration 1 of Greater Milwaukee, said to not forget about weatherizing the outside of the house. That includes things such as turning off spigots and unclogging gutters.
“One of the best things you can do when it’s raining, which happens a lot in the fall, is go outside and look at all of the puddles on your lawn,” Michalski said. “That’s going to help you so much, because you don’t have to pay anything and that data is going to tell you, ‘Oh wow I have a bad grade right here; all that water is going against my foundation. All I need is some dirt now before winter hits.’ You might not notice it in the winter time, but come summer you’ll have a problem.”
He believes this season will be busier than last year.
“We had a record weather event last year,” Michalski said. “It was one of the strongest El Niños we had. Everything was much dryer, much warmer. Usually when that happens, there’s a rebound year. This year is going to be much wetter and much cooler.”
That’s why Michalski and Hawthorn encouraged Wisconsinites to get ahead of any future problems.
“I always try to tell people if you’re looking at doing a weatherization project or insulation project,having a home assessment done first, having someone come out first and really identifying some of those problem areas, so you can then solve some of those issues, versus just trying to tackle something and not getting the result you were looking for,” Michalski said.