Although winter is passing into spring, we’re still due for some chilly weather here in the Lorain area. If you have a drafty house, that means you may be paying higher utility bills than you need to.
How do drafty windows impact your heating — and for that matter, your air conditioning? Read on and we’ll explain.
Maybe you close the windows and doors firmly, leaving no cracks for cold winds to enter — or for conditioned air to escape in the summer. However, drafts can occur in another way in the winter. Likewise, cold air can migrate outdoors in the summer through these same means.
How Drafty Windows Happen
Over time, houses settle, expanding and contracting, eventually leaving minute cracks in door and window frames, around baseboards, and in places in exterior walls such as electrical plugs, holes for pipes, wires and cables, and around the attic hatch. Locating air leaks isn’t always easy, but you should start by holding your hand next to the areas mentioned above to see if you feel a change in temperature. Or, hold a stick of lit incense near these areas and then see if the smoke wavers.
Why You Should Stop Drafty Windows
So what’s the harm with the drafts? In the winter, the cold air infiltrates your home, compromising your heating efforts so that you have to turn up the thermostat to heat your house properly. In the summer, cracks in the home’s exterior walls allow the air conditioning to escape so that your home is hard to cool. You have to pay more on your utility bill to reach temperature set points on the thermostat.
You can save money on your utility bill by fixing the cracks.
How to Stop Drafts
Once you’ve located the drafty places around your windows, doors, and baseboards, plug them up with caulk, weatherstripping, or insulation. If you feel cold air is entering the house via holes for pipes, wires, or cables, plug up the holes with insulation.
Questions about fixing drafty windows? Contact Energy 1 Heating and Air Conditioning, serving Lorain and the surrounding area.
Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area