As the season turns to colder weather, comfort issues can impact your daily life. A draft coming down an outside wall or around a window is a common issue for homes in our area. There are also areas in the home that you might overlook that impact comfort like attic access, electrical outlets, kitchen cabinets, tubs on outside walls, and basements / crawl spaces.
Sealing up the leaks in your home will increase your comfort all year, but most notably during the colder months. Finding the leaks and stopping them is a relatively easy thing to do in most cases but not all. In existing homes using caulk at key points, weather-stripping around doors, gaskets at electrical outlets, and foam insulation in the attic and basement / crawl space can get the job done. The harder leaks to stop come from missing insulation inside of walls, insulation installed incorrectly inside of walls, leaky HVAC ducts, and leaks behind tubs and kitchen cabinets.
Take these simple steps to reduce your energy bills, increase comfort, and improve indoor air quality.
1. Insulate around wall and ceiling penetrations – recessed lights, electrical outlets, medicine cabinets, and light switches.
2. Plug up the leaks – attic access, doors and windows, crawl space, and basement
3. Foam the gaps – band board is a huge area of leakage
4. Inspect dirty insulation in the attic and make sure there is not an air path coming into your home.
5. Install storm windows
6. Make sure your fireplace flue it closed tightly when not in use.
7. Install seals / sweeps at the base of all exterior doors
8. Get an energy audit to verify you corrected all the issues.
