As the winter breezes blow, don't turn up your thermostat. Instead, seal the air leaks in your house and stop those cold drafts. Stopping outside air from entering the house is an easy way to reduce your heating and cooling bills and make your home more comfortable.
How to find air leaks You can feel air leaks. On a cold, windy day, you'll be able to feel cold drafts, particularly around doors and windows, but you can also feel cool air in other drafty spots, such as near electrical outlets that are in outside walls. You can see air leaks. If ice is forming on the floor or wall near a door or a window, you've probably got a serious breach in the "envelope" of your house. More subtle gaps can be detected other ways. You can have a professional evaluation done (often called an energy audit); your utility company may provide this service. But you can do a simple check yourself. On a windy day, close all doors and windows tightly. Turn off all ceiling and vent fans, and be certain your forced air furnace isn't running (if you have one). Light a stick of incense or a smoke pencil, then move slowly through the house, stopping by potentially drafty spots. Watch where the smoke goes get a sighted friend to help here and how quickly it moves. This will give you a good indication of how the air is moving in your house. Be careful not to blow the smoke around as you breathe. The DIY evaluation, though, won't necessarily tell you about some other problematic areas, such as plumbing vents that run through walls and out through the roof. A chart from the Southface Energy Institute shows that the wall plates, the area where your walls meet the foundation, are the largest source of leaks in most houses. How to seal leaks Although air leaks through light switches and electrical outlets in outside walls account for only a small percentage of energy loss, everything adds up. Plus, installing inexpensive pre-cut sheets of insulation around these switches is super easy. Start with this simple step; you can find them at home improvement stores. Then caulk around leaky windows and door frames. Next, climb into the attic. Fill gaps between plumbing vents and wall framing with expanding foam insulation. Caulk around electrical boxes that contain wiring for light fixtures below. Get a pro to insulate around recessed lights that go up into the attic - a mistake in this situation could create a fire hazard. From the attic, caulk joints between walls below and the ceiling. If you have a basement or crawl space, finish there. The primary leaks will be where the concrete foundation meets the wooden framing of the first floor. Caulk along this area even if you don't see gaps. Use foam insulation for larger gaps (around pipes that go through the wall, etc.). Home Tightening, Insulation and Ventilation from the Iowa Energy Center and A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Energy Star Home Sealing are two detailed guides to finding air leaks and sealing them. Be sure to also read Save Energy with Winter Window Treatments, Slash Your Heating Bills and Save Energy & Money NOW.
