One of the best ways to prepare a home for the winter weather and high energy costs is to take time now, before winter arrives, to do some simple home maintenance.

The first and most important step in weatherizing a home is to stop air leaks. If air leaks aren't stopped first, other weatherizing measures like insulation will be a waste of effort and money. Stopping air leaks in a home can save as much as 40 percent on your home's heating and cooling costs.

Below are a variety of home tightening tasks that will save money, energy and make a home feel more comfortable. Don't be intimidated by this list or feel that everything on the list has to be done. Each task will help contribute to the overall savings and comfort of the home.

The Tools

The basic tools needed to tighten up a home are a good all-purpose caulk, a caulking gun, filler caulk for larger holes, weather stripping for doors and windows, and insulating gaskets for electrical outlets. Large holes you may need to be filled with expanding foam.

The Main Floor

Electric outlets -- Install foam gaskets behind all the light switches and electrical outlet covers, even interior walls. These simple foam gaskets help seal the holes created when the outlets and light switches are built into homes. Then use child safety plugs to keep the cold air from coming in through the sockets.
Air conditioners -- Remove window air conditioners. If they can't be removed, seal up the area around the unit with removable rope caulk and add an AC window insulation blanket.
Windows and doors -- Weather strip and caulk all cracks between the wall and the window trim, especially under the windowsills. Replace broken glass and putty any loose windowpanes. Caulk around the moving parts of windows with a non-permanent caulk during the winter. This type of caulk can be easily removed in the spring.
Recessed lights and bathroom fans -- Caulk around these from below with high-temperature flexible caulk.
Other exterior wall holes -- Seal around all ceiling fixtures, heat registers, medicine cabinets, bath tubs, kitchen cabinets, drains and water pipes where they enter the wall and any other holes in exterior walls.
Fireplace Dampers -- Missing or poorly fitting dampers allow air to move freely up and down the chimney. Install a new damper or repair the existing one so it closes tightly.

Monsters In The Attic And Basement

The attic and basement are the biggest air leak culprits in homes. Sealing up the air leaks in these two areas is the best guarantee for a comfortable home.

Doors and hatches to the attic -- Weather strip the edges and insulate the backside of the attic door. Fold-down stairs can be covered with a lightweight box made of rigid insulation board.
Holes in the attic floor -- Don't be surprised to find your attic has holes in the floor -- especially around the outside walls, ducts, recessed lights or near plumbing utilities and other outside penetration. Also, look for dirty spots in your insulation, which often indicates holes where air leaks into and out of your house. You can seal the holes by stapling sheets of plastic over the holes and caulking the edges of the plastic. Carefully check for these trouble spots.
Around the chimney -- Any gap that runs vertically the height of the house around the chimney should be sealed at booth the basement ceiling and attic floor levels. Seal these with sheet metal. This job may be best hired out.
Basement windows -- Use the masonry caulk to fill any cracks where the frames of the windows are set into the walls. Windows that are not used for summer ventilation or as fire exits can be permanently caulked shut.
In the basement, you are likely to find air leaks around the windows, along the sill plate and band joists and where the ducts pass through the basement ceiling.

Stop Drafts

Next, weatherize the rooms that are used the most, such as the living room, family room and bedroom. Caulk around the windows, doors, baseboards, lighting fixtures and any other cracks in the walls or ceiling. These holes may seem small, but their net impact is huge. It is estimated that the accumulative effect of all the cracks and holes in the average U.S. home is equal to having a large window open.

Caulking also stops drafts and, therefore, makes the room feel more comfortable. This reduces the urge to reach for the thermostat and turn it up, which reduces energy consumption and cost.

All of these tasks are easy enough for most people to complete. If you feel some of these jobs are beyond the scope of your abilities, hire someone to help you out, or get creative and barter services with a handy friend. Home tightening products and services also make great gifts that last for years and keep giving in energy savings.

Read More On Caulking, Finding Air Leaks

Information from the Iowa Energy Center