If you want to lower your energy costs, you need to be pro-active about finding ways to save home energy and start putting them into practice right away. One area of concern that is often overlooked or not given much thought until it is really cold outside and higher energy bills start to arrive is making necessary home exterior improvements.

If you really want to make saving energy a priority around your house, start checking for improvements that can be made to the exterior of your home and get them corrected while the weather is comfortable and your energy consumption is at its minimum.

Heating your home constitutes the largest part of the average home energy costs. However, a lot of your home heat energy is wasted because of drafts. Finding and closing gaps and cracks in your insulation need to become a top priority if you really want to reduce your utility bills.

Here are 7 Home Exterior Improvement Tips to help you do just that:

1. Check outside corners. Make sure that they do not have cracks where heat can escape. This is especially important if there are areas in your home where different materials are used and meet.

2. Use the proper filler and fill any cracks and holes that you may find on your siding or in your foundation. Even the mortar can prove to be a real problem when it has holes. Maximizing your home exterior improvements require you to be vigilant in every aspect.

3. Take a look at where plumbing enters your home. These spots are usually susceptible to deterioration and weathering, making them problem areas for drafts and energy leaks. Fill any holes you find with the right material.

4. You need to realize that your doors and windows are vital saving energy exteriors that need to be properly maintained. Make sure that they are sealed or insulated properly to minimize the amount of heat that escapes through them. If you will be purchasing new doors and windows, you should check out ones that offer a tax credit for energy savings. Then you will be doubling your benefits.

5. Another factor you should consider when improving your home's exterior is properly sealing wall-mounted air conditioners. As you may realize, having a big hole in the wall certainly won't help you save more energy. To minimize the amount of energy wasted in heating your home, you need to make sure that the air conditioner is sealed tightly around the area where it meets the wall.

6. Take care to make sure that your home is properly insulated. An often overlooked problem area is the attic. Heat rises so your attic particularly needs to be insulated well to prevent most of the heat from escaping through the ceiling and roof. Ensure that your attic has a good vapor barrier to save more on your energy bill as well and to prevent structural damage. Proper insulation of your attic is a home exterior improvement that has a long-term effect on keeping your energy costs down.

7. Take a look at the roof, as well as the chimney and the air ducts to make sure that they do not let drafts in and heat out.

Making home exterior improvements does not have to be a complicated process, and the benefits of doing so will result in long-term savings of both your home energy and money.