Manage Air Leaks, And Stop Energy Loss In Your Home

During the winter, air leaks can cause considerable energy loss in your home — which drives up your heating bills and puts unnecessary wear on your heating system.

Here are four places where it pays to manage air leaks in your house:

• Doors and windows: Close your doors and windows and feel around the edges to locate drafts. Use rubber or foam weatherstripping to close the gap between the frame and the window or door. Seal leaks around glass with silicone caulking.
• Heating system ductwork: Ductwork can be a hidden point of energy loss in your home. Heated air can be lost from loose connections, unsealed joints and elbows or detached sections. Heat energy can be lost through the thin metal of the ductwork itself. Make sure all sections of your ductwork fit together tightly and no pieces have become detached, particularly at your vents and registers. Seal joints and elbows with metal tape or mastic. Insulate the entire length of your ductwork with rigid fiber board insulation.
• Attic: Attics, especially unfinished ones, are large potential areas of energy loss. Check the attic for holes or gaps where the house walls connect to the attic floor. Seal the largest holes first. Make sure insulation is present and there is enough of it; replace or add insulation as necessary. Check access doors and knee walls for air leaks.
• Basement: In your basement, look for holes or gaps at the rim joists where the house walls and framing contact the foundation. Seal openings where pipes, wires, or conduits enter the house through the basement wall. Use latex or silicone caulk for quarter-inch or smaller holes. Use expanding spray foam for openings between a quarter-inch and 3 inches.

For information on how to manage air leaks and stop energy loss at its source, contact the pros at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal. We have been serving customers in northwest Arkansas and surrounding communities for more than 40 years.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about managing air leaks and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Paschal Heating, Air & Geothermal services Northwest Arkansas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!