Cranking up the thermostat will get your house nice and warm in a hurry but it will also drain your bank account just as quickly. There are better ways to keep the temperature in your home at a comfortable level all winter long without racking up a sky high energy bill. Here are a few tips.

Banish Drafts

A roll of weatherstripping tape costs just a few dollars, can be obtained at any hardware or home store and takes just a few hours to apply to all the doors and windows in your home. The payoff in terms of energy saved is surprisingly high though and this is one task that every homeowner should undertake before the winter weather strikes in earnest.

Hang New Window Treatments

Replace (or cover) your flimsy summer friendly blinds with thick Roman blinds or nice heavy drapes. In addition to saving money on your energy bills by reducing the heat lost from the room by up to 25% you will be giving the space a little bit of a winter make over.

Have Cracks and Gaps Sealed

Hiring a professional to seal any cracks and gaps in the exterior walls of you home, however small, with foam insulation can also help keep more of the heat you are paying for inside to keep you warm.

Close off Unused Rooms

If you have a guest room that only gets used once or twice a year there is no need to keep the heat on in there all winter long. Set the thermostat low and keep the door closed and consider using a draft excluder to stop colder air escaping into the rest of the house.

Any large remodeling project can be a rather daunting prospect for homeowners to even consider, let alone actually undertake. Most common are the fears that the project will be too disruptive, take too long, or end up costing far more than the original budget had called for initially.

These fears can, and often do, end up preventing a longed for remodeling project from ever being put into action. Here are some tips that may calm those fears and let you move ahead with your remodeling project with a little more confidence.

Research – Heading into a remodeling project as an informed consumer can help allay many of a homeowner’s fears. Before you even begin contacting remodeling contractors, take some time to learn about the project you are planning. Research typical material costs and read up about the pros and cons that other people have reported when undertaking a similar project.

You can also ask around amongst friends, family and colleagues to see if any of them have undertaken similar remodeling projects in the past and what their experiences were. Whether those experiences were good or bad your acquaintances can probably provide you with some valuable insights.

The next area of research will of course involve picking a contractor to perform the work. A Google search will probably throw up dozens of companies in your area that, on the surface and based upon their ads, seem like they could get the job done.  It is your job as a consumer to take the time to throughly research those that interest you. Internet services like Remodeling Contractor.com can be very helpful so do not rule out turning to them for help.

Start Small – If you have a number of remodeling projects in mind why not start with the smallest one first? This will let you get a taste for just how much disruption you can stand around your home as well as how well you can interact with the remodeling contractors you have chosen.

Share an Honest Budget with your Contractor – Talking about money and naming specific numbers is still somewhat of a taboo in this society. However being vague about your budget   is an enemy to successful remodeling project.

Some homeowners have a tendency to want to keep the actual amount of money they have to spend a secret from their contractor, often fearing that should they actually reveal their real budget they will be overcharged. That is rarely the case though and a good contractor simply needs to know what he or she is working with.

Once you give them an honest overview of your budget they can begin matching your dreams to what you can realistically afford. You may have had your heart set on all granite counter tops but once given the real figures a contractor  may realize that they are not quite within your reach unless other aspects of the plan change. At that point they can present you with your options and you can work together to figure out which direction to take.

Create a Multi Generational Home

In the USA of the 21st century multi generational households are on the rise. One of the reasons many people are commissioning a larger project like a home addition is to provide a separate space for a parent or perhaps a returning child to live with some degree of independence and privacy while technically under the same roof as the rest of the family.

A separate suite, often called a mother in law suite, is a very different creature these days than it was twenty years ago. Formerly considered only a small apartment in the backyard, the mother-in-law suite can now be one of many different things.

The modern mother in law suite  can be a completely separate structure, sort of a little house in the backyard, or a more practical detached garage with an apartment above. The addition of a second story is also an option and perhaps the most cost efficient way of all, a basement remodel, can be another way of creating a mother in law suite well worth considering if the square footage is there.

The best place to start when considering adding separate living quarters onto your home is with a good architect. Their services are not as prohibitively expensive as you may think and a big project like this needs to be handled by the experts from the start.

An architect will be able to help you decide which of the many options open to you will make the most sense, both in terms of function and aesthetics as well as budget. Once you have some floor plans in mind and a solid idea of what you need you will also be a better position to begin approaching experienced general contractors to get the work underway.