One cool feature I loved about my house when I first bought it a little more than three years ago was that it had a mail slot, rather than a mailbox. With the mail slot, my mail would just find its way into my home, rather than requiring me to go outside and check to see if anything has arrived.
But during those first cold winter days, we were left scrambling to find out where a very large draft in the house was coming from. I read on Avista’s website that it is important to block drafts around windows and doors. My mission was to find this draft, not only for the cold winter months, but the hot ones in the summer to keep my cool air in. It turned out to be my mail slot.
As a temporary fix that winter, my boyfriend stuffed it full of paper towels. But that couldn’t work forever, mostly because when the mail came, the paper towels fell on the floor with the mail. I went online and found a way to block that air flow.
Ideally, I should really seal up the slot and add a mailbox, if I want a complete seal. But I like the slot. I found a bag I can attach to the wall around the slot with Velcro. It was super easy to install: I just stuck the Velcro to the wall and attached the bag. Not only does it block the air leak, it catches the mail and keeps it off the floor, too.
Lisa, an Avista customer, bought her 1910 house because she loved the old-world character, some of which doesn’t make her house very energy efficient. Lisa is sharing her experience on taking some simple do-it-yourself improvements to inspire others to do the same. You’ll find her stories right here every Tuesday morning.