Draft caps are an easy to install solution to keep your attic entrance efficient and up to building code. It is proven to save a significant amount of money on energy bills each month and will pay for itself in less than 6 months.The attic space in a home can be a great area to store extra things or seasonal items. Using that extra unlivable space on top of your home means you need access to it. As wonderful as it may be to be able to use you attic for storage, it is also the area of the home that can be the least energy efficient and cause heating and cooling bills to be unnecessarily high.

The attic space is often the hottest place in the home. A home that is energy efficient will prevent the heat from escaping the living area in cold months and keep it out of the living space during the warm months. There are great insulating products available like radiant barrier foil, which do a remarkable job keeping your home efficient. However, there is one fairly large area that is not easy to insulate, the attic stairs. A product called a draft cap was invented to take care of the opening so that all the hard work your insulation is doing on the ceilings, walls, an floors is enhanced, not wasted.

Whether it's rummaging through the attic stairs and bagging them for the thrift shop as they usually give a discount on your next purchase for bringing something in or carefully sorting through old dishes that have been packed for ages in boxes, you may be pleasantly surprised at what your attic, basement and spare room holds for you. How many antiques have been rediscovered, hidden in scruffy old boxes; so many years old that now, only grandpa would have a clue as to what it is or what it was once used for.

Antique stores would pay you a small fortune for such an item if you had a mind to sell it to them. Before you take that step and approach them though, find out all you can about the item and what it is really worth. Its worth your while and a small fee to have it appraised so that when you do head into the store, you know well in advance what its worth and have some bargaining power and knowledge behind you. They will frequently try to undersell you if they can.What about that old trunk that has been sitting in that same corner for as long as you have owned the house.

Has it never once piqueted your curiosity as to what secrets and family heirlooms it might hold. All the old photo books and pictures of long gone ancestors and the stories behind the items it contains; the hidden corners of your family history should prompt you to spend a quiet afternoon sitting in the dust of a warm attic with a cup of your favourite coffee, exploring the unexplored. If doing a spring-cleaning then perhaps you will find enough stuff that you want to be free of to stage your own garage sale and bring in a little cash from that. People are always looking for a bargain and it's a great way to recycle what you yourself no longer need or will use.

Perhaps, more often than not, what this journey will show you is just all the junk you have collected over the years and need to get rid of so you can collect newer junk. If that is the case, then a thrift store or a value village department store will give you a discount for the stuff on your next purchase or you can make all the junk collectors in your neighbourhood exceedingly happy by having a spring garage sale where you can make some spare cash that way.