Our grandparents had a secret for coping with harsh winters without increasing the heating bill. This system D consists of creating an insulating barrier on strategic points of the home with a recycled material.
Winter wouldn’t really be winter if it wasn’t accompanied by gusts of wind, these icy squalls that rage everywhere, creating drafts at the bottom of doors and roller shutter boxes. While everyone is warming up at home, by the warm radiators, these areas of the home remain cold and porous to drafts. And these thermal bridges are a source of discomfort on a daily basis because they continually bring stubborn cold. They make heating useless and in the process increase the energy bill.
Commercial caulking accessories often represent a significant budget for limited durability. Exposed to the movements of the leaves, they collapse and end up letting air through. The homes of the past avoided this pitfall by favoring a rustic sealing technique, much more resistant to mechanical stress on the openings.
Everyone has already had one in their hands, but few people have had the idea of using it as insulation to reduce their energy bill. Newsprint is an outstanding insulator because the cellulose, a material widely used in construction, that it contains provides a barrier to the cold. Free and accessible, newspapers, once crumpled into tight rolls, help absorb air and block leaks.
Caulking is done by inserting the compressed paper directly where the air penetrates. This manual sealing method adapts to all irregularities in joinery, where standard joints fail. To maintain the insulating properties of cellulose, it is recommended to replace the rolls mid-season, thus ensuring lasting waterproofing until spring.
And for reinforced insulation, you can combine newspaper with fabric coils for roller shutter boxes. For good insulation this winter, don’t hesitate to use newspaper, a free and very effective grandmother’s tip for keeping the heat in the house and reducing the energy bill.
