Houses shift on their foundations from season to season, from year to year. That means even if your home was air tight, it may not be now — particularly after a long, hard winter. That’s why it’s always a good idea to take time between seasons to check for air leaks.
Air leaks are minute cracks in your home that can occur in a number of places: around door and window frames, around baseboards, under exterior doors and around the holes to the exterior that accommodate your pipes, wires and cables. Leaks can even occur in electric switches.
When conditioned air leaks out, you’re wasting money on your utility bills. Make your home more efficient by discovering and fixing leaking air.
How to Find Leaking Air Sites
An energy auditor is the best choice when it comes to finding where energy is leaking out of your home. Using professional equipment, the auditor can determine where your home’s weak spots are, and make advisements on repairs.
If you don’t want to go that route, then you can take a stick of lit incense and go over your home, holding it in front of suspected leak sites such as those mentioned above, as well as the attic hatch and recessed lighting canisters. If the smoke wavers, you have a leak. Fix leaks with insulation, weatherstripping or caulk. Use fire-rated, insulated covers for the lighting canisters. Put weatherstripping around the attic opening perimeter, and cover the hatch with foam board. You may even want to caulk between the attic hatch trim and the drywall.
Seal Your Ducts
Don’t forget that your HVAC ducts can be a major source of conditioned air loss. If you are able, check ducts, particularly if they are in unconditioned spaces. Cracks and gaps should be repaired with mastic sealant, foil tape and metal screws. Do not use duct tape, as it will not hold up. Also, think about insulating ducts if they are in unconditioned spaces.
Want to learn more about finding and sealing air leaks? Contact Ace Hardware Home Services. We’ve served Dayton and the surrounding area since 1978.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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