4 ways to cut winter energy bills
These four home products can let you burn less cash when temperatures crash.
Annual energy savings: $770
Pays for itself within: 3 year
If your windows are old and drafty, but you're not eager to spend $1,000 apiece to have a pro install energy-efficient vinyl-clad wood replacements, there's another alternative: interior storms.
"They're a better value," says Bruce Harley, technical director of Conservation Services Group in Westborough, Mass., and author of Cut Your Energy Bills Now.
These products, which typically have an aluminum frame that spring-loads to fit your window, generally cost the same as or less than exterior storms and are just as energy saving. (Both can reduce heat loss by 25% to 50%.) But they're much easier to put in and take out; no more teetering on a ladder or paying someone else to.
One example: Boomerang Energy Products' Energy Panels ($150 for a typical 60-by-28-inch window).
*Assumes 15 windows at $125 per window.
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