What is the point of spending money to heat up the air in your home if it just escapes and is replaced with a cold breeze leaking in around aged windows and doors? This winter keep your home warm while saving money with these home air sealing tips.
One way air leaks occur when the air you heat up rises towards the top of your house and escapes through your attic. Air also leaves your home around poorly sealed windows and doors on lower floors. As warm air rises, cooler, lighter air is pulled into your home through windows and doors, due to the change in air pressure your home is creating.
Don’t worry though, there are inexpensive ways you can combat this air loss, and keep the air you are spending money to warm up inside your home.
Before you can fix air leaks, you need to locate them. An easy way to do this is to light a candle and guide it along the edge of your window or door. The candle’s flame will flicker or go out when you pass over and gap in the window or door. Watch this one-minute video to see how to perform this test.
Once you’ve identified areas in your home that are leaking air, you can use these home air sealing tips to prevent warm air from continuously escaping.
1. Caulk around windows
One easy way you can stop an air leak around your window is by re-caulking it with a clear acrylic. It will be up to you to decided if the entire window should re-caulked. If the draft is small, you may be able to get away with just caulking over the leak, however if the window is old, you may need to reseal the entire frame.
2. Install weather stripping around windows and doors
An inexpensive way to seal air leaks is by purchasing and installing weather strips to go along the outside of your windows and doors. This is not a permanent solution and may only last a few months around windows and doors that are frequently used. However, if coupled with heavy drapes or curtains, weather stripping can become an effective way to keep warm air indoors.
3. Interior storm windows
There is a new way to insulate your windows without altering their appearance. Indow Windows has created interior storm window inserts that are laser cut and custom made to fit your windows. These light, strong, acrylic glazed inserts provide insulation and energy savings that rival double and triple pane windows.
4. Keep your fireplace damper closed
Windows and doors aren’t the only places that allow cold air to enter. If you have a fireplace, you will want to make sure that the damper is closed when it is not in use to ensure that no outside air is coming in.
5. Seal your attic
Your attic is usually the root of all your air leak problems. Between the entry hatch, recessed lighting boxes, and holes for wiring and ventilation, your attic can have numerous unsealed gaps that allow rising warm air out of your home and change the air pressure on lower floors, pulling cool air indoors.
Take some time to inspect your attic and seal the entry hatch, areas around ventilation and recess lighting boxes. If your attic is poorly insulated, you may want to have it re-insulated with a more efficient insulation. Learn more about attic insulation and your different options for insulating your home.
From your front door to your attic, your home may be leaking air every day without you knowing. These five simple home air sealing tips can help reduce air leaks in your home and help save energy usage.
