Finding and fixing cold air leaks is one of the best things you can do to improve your home’s energy efficiency. Not only will your utility costs go down, but you’ll also be reducing your carbon footprint, as you will not be using as much energy to heat your home.
Finding, Fixing Cold Air Leaks
Cold air has a way of muscling in through minute leaks around door and window frames, under doors and even through the electric plugs in the wall. These leaks can also allow your heated air to escape to the outdoors, or in the case of attic hatches and recessed lighting, into the unheated parts of your home.
The best way to locate air leaks is to hire an energy auditor, who will use professional equipment and perform a blower door test and thermographic imaging to detect the places in your home that need more insulation, weatherstripping or caulk. You can perform your own energy test by walking around your home with a lit incense stick in front of these places:
- Door and window frames
- Under doors
- Baseboards
- Recessed lighting
- Exterior wall holes for plumbing, wires and cable
- Attic hatch
- Electric plugs
If the smoke wavers, there’s an air leak and you should hire a professional to:
- Caulk around door and window frames and baseboards.
- Add weatherstripping between window panes, and between double doors — or any place where you can feel cold air leaking in.
- Attach a door sweep at the bottom of exterior doors.
- Install fire-rated, insulated boxes around recessed lighting canisters in the attic.
- Add weatherstripping around the attic hatch; reinforce the door with a layer of insulation.
- Wrap pipes, wires and cables with insulation at the point where they enter an exterior wall.
- Install foam gaskets inside electric plug plates.
- Add insulation in walls and on the attic floor, or hire someone to do it if the job is beyond your ability.
For more on fixing cold air leaks, or to schedule HVAC maintenance, repairs and installations, contact Energy 1 Heating and Air Conditioning of Lorain.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.
Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area