Talk about a housewarming present.

My in-laws gave my husband and me 50 gallons of heating oil for our anniversary, which should keep the home fires burning – for a few weeks, anyway.

With the price of heating oil hovering around $2.50 a gallon, a gift like that makes a huge difference. And like all Mainers, we’d like to stretch those 50 gallons as far as possible, because experts say these prices are here to stay.

“Higher oil prices are all we’ll look at in the future,” said Dick Hill, emeritus professor of engineering at the University of Maine. “No way is this going to be like 1982 or 1987, where the market collapses and we’ll be back to $1 for a gallon of heating oil.”

Hill’s solution is to heat his home with wood, use electric space heaters in the bathrooms and seal up rooms that aren’t in use. But even if you’re sticking with oil, you can make a dramatic difference in your heating costs by buttoning up your home. There are plenty of simple, inexpensive ways to keep the cold air out and the warm air in, and a little maintenance goes a long way.

“It’s the littlest things you don’t think of that make the most difference,” general contractor Tom Silva of the PBS series “This Old House” said during a recent phone interview.

Annual maintenance is key, because your home – and the ground around it – are constantly moving and changing. So is technology, and modern options such as on-demand water heaters and radiant heat could end up saving you money in the long run. If you have a newer furnace, an annual cleaning and service will keep it running at maximum efficiency.

“To save energy, the smartest thing a homeowner can do is to get their heating system tuned up,” Silva said.

But you also need to make sure the heat it generates doesn’t go out the window – or the roof. And once you know where your home’s energy leaks are, it’s easier than you might think.

“The energy loss from a house is divided into three equal components: doors and windows; walls and the roof; and air leaks in and out,” Hill said.

Windows and doors

Double-paned replacement windows solve a multitude of problems, but if they aren’t in your budget this fall, you can make your old, rattling windows more efficient with a flick of the wrist.

“A closed window isn’t as efficient as a locked window,” Silva said.

Locking the window pushes the upper sash tighter against the jamb and the lower sash tighter against the sill, which makes it harder for cold air to get in. So does weatherstripping on both windows and doors.

Caulking and weatherstripping can cut your heating bills by up to 10 percent, according to Efficiency Maine, an Augusta-based group dedicated to helping consumers conserve energy and cut their energy costs. Silva recommends latex caulk with a little silicone, rather than straight silicone.

Sealing any loose panes with putty and caulking the area where the exterior window trim meets the siding will keep cold air out. And if you have a weighted rope and pulley window system, common to older homes, a strip of carpet padding can fill the drafty void that runs the entire height of your window on both sides (see diagram).

Say your culprit is a large, single-paned picture window – quite literally a hole in the wall. A shrink-wrap kit, which requires a hair dryer and some double-stick tape, will create a thin air pocket between the plastic and the glass.

“That air space becomes insulation,” Silva said. “It makes a tremendous difference on the air that falls off that glass. It’s a pretty good return on your investment.”

So is plastic sheeting on the outside, which can be placed between a storm window and an interior window or used in place of a storm. It’s available in several grades, including a crystal clear variety that doesn’t obscure your view. It can shave 2 percent to 7 percent off your heating costs, according to Efficiency Maine.

Window quilts or heavy drapery will keep the windows warm at night, and when you pull them back in the daytime, you’ll let the sun work to your advantage.

For a long-term solution, triple-track storms will double the efficiency of single-pane windows. And if you’re a sucker for the old-house aesthetic (like me) you may not have to replace your wood-framed windows, after all.

“A lot of times, those windows can be refurbished,” Silva said.

When it comes to your entryway, storm doors and weatherstripping seals the obvious drafts, but one less obvious heat drain is a mail slot. Double-door slots are now available, and by capturing the cold air before it comes indoors, they make “a big difference.”

Walls and roof

Insulation – whether blown in, poured or rolled out – forms a physical barrier between the outdoors and your living space. A thick layer of unfaced insulation on the floor of your attic is the best way to stop ice dams by keeping heat down, where it should be.

“The colder your attic is, the better your house is for it,” Silva said.

Insulating exterior walls is a given, but when Silva works on renovations or new construction, he also insulates interior walls to ensure that zoned heating systems work more efficiently. According to Efficiency Maine, you can cut heating costs by up to 25 percent by installing ceiling insulation to at least an R-30 value.

“You want the room that is being heated to keep the heat in that room,” Silva said. “You only want the space you’re living in to stay controlled.”

If you have baseboard heating and your house feels freezing no matter how high you set the thermostat, check to see that the louver is open on top and there’s enough ventilation on bottom. Thick carpeting and a closed louver is a chilly, not to mention inefficient, combination.

To keep things warm and efficient, you could buy a timed thermostat, which will turn on the heat before you wake up and before you return home from work. It leaves the house at a base temperature while you’re asleep or away, so you’re not burning through oil unnecessarily.

Of course, your furnace won’t cycle on as often if your home doesn’t cool down quickly, and one way to slow the cooling down is to insulate switchplates and outlets on exterior walls. Foam pads get the job done, but if you trace around the outlet with a pencil, remove the face plate, and drill a tiny hole in the drywall between the outline and the electric box, you can fill the void around the box with expanding spray foam. Plan to use one can for every three outlets, or one large can for six.

Air leaks

In the war against drafts, a can of expanding foam could be your best – and cheapest – weapon. Starting with your basement, turn out the lights and cover any windows. In the darkness, check for light infiltration, especially where the sill meets the foundation. If you see light, squirt foam in the gaps, because even a small crack lets out warm air like a hole in the wall.

“It makes a huge difference,” Silva said.

So does banking the exposed part of your foundation with plastic. It may not be pretty, but it’s a time-tested draft barrier, even in newer homes. Reinforcing the bank with hay bales or bagged leaves adds even more insulation.

“In older buildings the seal between the sill and the foundation is never as good as it should be,” Hill said. “I think banking the foundation helps keep the floor warmer, it helps keep you comfortable in the winter, especially in old buildings.”

As does insulating the oft-overlooked sill box (the area in your basement between the first-floor floor joists and the top of the foundation) with fiberglass insulation.

“It makes the floor warmer by 10 to 15 degrees,” said Skip Flagg of G.W. Flagg plumbing and heating in Brewer.

The basement can be a cold place, which is why it makes sense to cover any exposed water pipes – both heating and resting – with foam tubes or fiberglass strips. It also helps to wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket. Sealing exposed ductwork with aluminum tape keeps hot air from escaping, which means you get more heat where you want it.

Invisible comfort

A well-insulated home with an efficient heating and cooling system will not only save you money, but also make your life more comfortable. But when it comes to major expenditures, many homeowners would rather invest in items with a high aesthetic value, such as granite countertops, than high energy value.

“It’s funny, because people do not want to spend money on things they can’t see, but if people would spend more money on something that would let them live comfortably and more efficiently, they would be happier homeowners,” Silva said.

As a result, between 80 percent and 85 percent of homeowners are unhappy with their current heating and cooling plans, according to Silva. By investing in good insulation, a new furnace, radiant heating or an on-demand water heater, homeowners can have the best of both worlds.

“With the money you save, you can buy the granite countertop in five years,” Silva said. “Be a smart homeowner. It’s the biggest investment you make in your life – why cut corners on it? We want to tell people to do things right. We don’t want to tell them to do things OK.”

Kristen Andresen can be reached at 990-8287 and kandresen@bangordailynews.net.

Fall home checklist

Basement

?Cover water heater with a jacket

?Insulate sill box

?Fill cracks and voids in foundation with spray foam

?Have furnace serviced – ask about switching to a smaller oil nozzle

?Insulate exposed water pipes

?Seal exposed ductwork with aluminum tape

?Weatherstrip basement door

?Insulate basement windows with plastic

Living area

?Seal windows and doors with caulk and weatherstripping

?Consider new insulation in walls and ceilings

?Cover windows with shrink-wrap plastic, if needed

?Insulate switchplates and outlets

?Install timed thermostat

?Open louvers on baseboard heaters

?Put up heavy drapes or window quilts

?Insulate rope and pulley mechanism on windows

?Install double-door mail slot

?Close fireplace damper when not in use

Attic

?Insulate with unfaced fiberglass insulation or pourable cellulose

?Weatherstrip attic door

Outdoor

?Install storm windows and doors – be sure ventilating “weep hole” is not obstructed

?Weatherstrip the bulkhead

?Cover windows with plastic

?Bank the foundation with plastic and hay or leaves (covered, to protect against fire)

?Clean out basement window wells

?Reseal glazing on older windows

?Check to see if dryer vent stays closed when dryer is not in use

?Check for missing roof shingles and repair

Shopping list

Spray foam

Weatherstripping

Pipe insulation – tubes or fiberglass strips

Fiberglass insulation, at least R-30

Plastic sheeting

Plastic window kit

Latex-silicone caulk

Glazing putty and points

Resources

www.thisoldhouse.com

www.efficiencymaine.com