Air leaks can waste a
lot of your energy dollars. One of the quickest energy-- and money-saving tasks
you can do is caulk, seal, and weather strip all seams, cracks, and openings to
the outside.
TIPS FOR SEALING AIR LEAKS
·
Test your home for air
tightness. On a windy day, carefully hold a lit incense stick or a smoke pen
next to your windows, doors, electrical boxes, plumbing fixtures, electrical
outlets, ceiling fixtures, attic hatches, and other places where air may leak.
If the smoke stream travels horizontally, you have located an air leak that may
need caulking, sealing, or weatherstripping.
·
Caulk and weatherstrip
doors and windows that leak air.
·
Caulk and seal air
leaks where plumbing, ducting, or electrical wiring comes through walls,
floors, ceilings, and soffits over cabinets.
·
Install foam gaskets
behind outlet and switch plates on walls.
·
Inspect dirty spots in
your insulation for air leaks and mold. Seal leaks with low-expansion spray
foam made for this purpose and install house flashing if needed.
·
Look for dirty spots
on your ceiling paint and carpet, which may indicate air leaks at interior
wall/ceiling joints and wall/floor joists, and caulk them.
·
Cover single-pane
windows with storm windows or replace them with more efficient double-pane low-
emissivity windows. See the Windows section for more information.
·
Use foam sealant on
larger gaps around windows, baseboards, and other places where air may leak
out.
·
Cover your kitchen
exhaust fan to stop air leaks when not in use.
·
Check your dryer vent
to be sure it is not blocked. This will save energy and may prevent a fire.
·
Replace door bottoms
and thresholds with ones that have pliable sealing gaskets.
·
Keep the fireplace
flue damper tightly closed when not in use.
·
Seal air leaks around
fireplace chimneys, furnaces, and gas-fired water heater vents with
fire-resistant materials such as sheet metal or sheetrock and furnace cement
caulk.
Fireplace flues are
made from metal, and over time repeated heating and cooling can cause the metal
to warp or break, creating a channel for air loss. To seal your flue when not
in use, consider an inflatable chimney balloon. Inflatable chimney balloons fit
beneath your fireplace flue when not in use, are made from durable plastic, and
can be removed easily and reused hundreds of times. If you forget to remove the
balloon before making a fire, the balloon will automatically deflate within
seconds of coming into contact with heat.
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