When not in use, your house fan leaks conditioned air into the attic. It works great for those few days before summer heat hits and you're not quite ready to turn the AC on. However those days seem to be few and far between. The house fan is great idea for those days if you actually use it, but most people we've surveyed (unscientific) rarely turn it on. Here is a quick easy way to seal off the fan so no air travels through the vents.

You can simply use window plastic stretched across if you don't plan to use the attic fan any time in the future. Another way is to purchase a kit from Batticdoor.com (http://www.batticdoor.com/louvercoverdetails.html) that is attached with velcro giving you the ability to remove anytime you need to utilize the attic fan. Installation is fairly simple, just follow these instructions.

Electrical Outlets and Switches provide a convenient way to control the power in our homes. They allow us to plug in anywhere and control lighting making our lives more comfortable and safe. The reaction to this action however, is a hole in the thermal envelope or wall to the outside.

Is your living room sitting on top of a refrigerator? If your basement walls are bare with no insulation, that might just be the case. And if your HVAC ducts run through the basement, then your getting a cold blast every time the heat kicks on. Most people don't realize their basement can have a great impact on their heating system.

Heat loss from an uninsulated basement can account for up to one third of the heating cost in an average home. This varies depending on many factors, such as the air tightness of the building envelope, the amount of insulation in the house and the height of the above grade portion of the basement wall. Since the above grade portion of the basement wall is exposed to colder temperatures than the below grade portion of the wall it loses heat at a much greater rate than the below grade portion of the wall.

If you are buying or building a new house or remodeling existing, make sure that energy savings features are included to make the most of your efficiency. The benefits of a tight fully insullated home are improved comfort, energy savings and carbon footprint reduction. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) home insulation rule requires the seller of a new home to provide information on the type, thickness, and R-value of the insulation that will be installed in each part of the house in every sales contract. Many state or local building codes include minimum requirements for home insulation. Be sure that your new home or home addition meets these building codes. You should seriously think about installing insulation beyond the minimum specified in such codes, especially if those minimum levels are below those recommended here.