Sponsored by Corothers Home Hardware Building Centre
The temperature’s dropping, the cost of heating’s increasing and the clock is ticking. Are you ready for the long snowfall? If you’re new to Yellowknife, or maybe a veteran tired of toughing it out, Corothers Home Hardware Building Centre has a huge array of smart solutions to help you stay warm and save money this winter.
1) Shrink window kits
Double glazing’s great, but how about triple? Shrink kits are without a doubt one of the most cost-effective ways to further insulate your home. A clear, insulative film that you can shrink with a hairdryer to prevent heat transfer through your windows, if you’re going to get anything from this list, get window kits.
2) Spray foams
Cold doesn’t just get in through the windows. Gaps in your walls from utility outlets and cracked joinery can be sealed off and made snuggly with insulative foam. When the outdoor air’s as cold as it is in Yellowknife, even the tiniest draft can drastically reduce your indoor temperature (and as Chuck himself points out, it’s one less vector for house pests to get in through,) so seal those gaps away.
3) Attic Insulation
You can’t do anything to stop heat rising, but you can do a lot to stop it escaping. As CMHC research points out, attic insulation is the most effective way to save celsiuses. Even if you’ve insulated your house in the past, recommended R-values (a measure of thermal insulation) have increased, and some types of insulation can become less effective over time. Whatever your history with your attic is, you should consider a new installation.
4) Weather stripping
For the doors we still have to open in the winter, close-fitting weather strips around your frames act as a gasket to stop any drafts from getting past. There are a bunch of different options depending on your type of door, so feel free to ask for advice when you come in.
5) Timers for block heaters
If you’re new to Yellowknife, you may be wondering what those plugs hanging out of everyone’s cars are for, and if you’ve been around a while, you know how much we need them. Block heaters are essential for many commuters in the morning, but most designs force you to leave them running all night. Buy a timer to warm your battery a few hours before you need to drive anywhere and avoid using electricity for no reason. We’ve done the math, that’s about 600 hours of electricity-money back into your pocket each winter.
6) LED light bulbs
There’s never a bad time to upgrade your house’s bulbs to the ultra-efficient LED variety, but if you’re coming to the store to get something else on this list, you should definitely consider stocking up. An LED bulb lasts around 250 times longer than a normal incandescent and costs significantly less per year.
Stay warm the smart way with Corothers Home Hardware Building Centre on 332 Old Airport Road.
