Tips On Weatherizing Your Home

Weatherize your home to help save money on utility bills. Heating and cooling a house is expensive enough all on its own. When the air inside a house escapes through cracks and gaps in its thermal envelope, that is called an air leak and these air leaks can drive up heating and cooling costs by a significant amount. To help protect against these additional expenditures, it is highly recommended that you weatherize your home – especially during the summer and winter months when heating and cooling costs are at their peak.

Detecting Air Leaks
When planning to weatherize your home, the first step that you need to take is to detect exactly where outside air is leaking into or inside air is escaping out of the house. A simple way to find most air leaks is to depressurize the house by shutting all windows and doors, and turning on all of the exhaust fans such as those in the bathroom or above the stove. You may also consider purchasing a window fan and have it blow air out of the house to assist with this process.

Once the house is depressurized, light an incense stick and slowly pass it by windows, doors, electrical outlets, light fixtures, molding, floorboards, attic hatches, plumbing fixtures and any other areas where it may be possible for air leaks to occur. Watch the smoke from the incense to see if it is getting sucked out of the house, or if it starts to get wavy in certain areas. These are definite indicators of an air leak.

A better way to detect air leaks is to have the house inspected by a home energy auditor. Qualified professionals will inspect it with thermal imaging equipment that is able to detect the slightest air leaks. They will also use a depressurization technique to assist with detecting air leaks by installing a specialized piece of equipment called a blower door which is much more effective than the method described above.

Sealing Air Leaks
The next step to weatherize your home is sealing off any air leaks that are found and there are many ways to go about doing so:

Caulking – use caulk around your foundation, windows, door frames, counters, bathtubs, and other areas where water may come into play to help protect against both air and water leakage in these areas. Caulk is an effective way to seal gaps that are a quarter-inch in width or less.

Foam Sealant – apply foam sealant to larger cracks and gaps where caulking is unable to effectively fill. Foam sealant expands to fill these areas and form an air-tight seal. Many foam sealants are also water resistant and will help to protect your home from water damage in the areas where they are applied.

Weather Stripping – use weather stripping around doors, windows and other movable joints to seal air leaks and protect against water damage in these areas.

When using any of these products to weatherize your home, it is important that you first remove any old material and paint from the area and thoroughly clean the surfaces where the new material is to be applied to ensure proper adhesion.