Sealing Your Home’s Air Leaks And Drafts

We all want a comfy, cozy home, especially throughout the wintertime. Unfortunately, a lot of homes lose that feeling when they have a difficult time trying to maintain warm indoor temperatures. Many homeowners compensate for this discomfort by turning up their thermostat’s temperature settings However, this reduces its energy efficiency and makes their energy bills skyrocket too. As such, an inefficient home is really costly to maintain.

In order to appreciate a higher level of energy efficiency…

you want to prevent or detect drafts and air leaks in your home. This will also improve your home’s comfort levels throughout the entire year. So, if you’re wondering what air sealing is, keep reading. In this article, we’ll tell you about some of the best ways you can find air leaks and drafts in your Shrewsbury NJ home.

 

Air Leak Prevention Tips And Tricks

The old adage that says a small amount of prevention is worth a whole lot of cure is definitely true, especially when you’re trying to prevent a draft in your home. The first step to prevent air leaks requires you to do some digging.

By knowing where the most common air leaks occur, you can find the biggest energy drains in your own home.

Start Smart

Start with the areas that are considered the biggest energy drains in most homes. These areas are the same areas that escalate your home heating costs. These areas include:

• Your attic: Make sure it’s properly insulated. Look for any noticeable cracks or gaps. If you find them, fill them with squirt foam.
• Your basement: Locate any cracks, regardless of how thin they are. By locating and sealing thin, hair-line basement cracks, you’ll prevent the cold air from entering your home and invading its upper levels and bedrooms. Remember, in bigger homes, several small leaks usually exist. Over time, they add up to a lot of money.

Running Air Leak Tests In Each Room

It’s a good idea to hire a contractor who has advanced air leak detector tools. They use these tools to find any issues withing your home before offering suggestions about how to improve your home’s energy efficiency.

Fortunately, there are some easy air sealing techniques you can do yourself. Once you make your way through your attic and basement, go through each room individually to look for any areas where leaks typically occur. This includes cracks along your doorways and window frames. Finding as many air leaks as possible can make a huge difference on your energy bills. Therefore, take as much time as necessary to do this task.

 

Recognizing The Common Culprits

Although recessed lights are sited as one of the leading causes of air leaks, there are a few things you can do about this:

• Buy lights that are labelled ‘ICAT’ (insulation contact and air tight)
• Add an airtight baffle to seal any existing lights
• Plug any open-stud cavities in your walls with insulation-stuffed garbage bags
• Close off any gaps around your chimneys and flues
• Properly caulk the edges of your windows and door frames

Make sure you take the time to do these things to prevent small leaks. Even small leaks make a big impact over the course of time. Although you probably don’t realize how much your furnace has to compensate to make up for air leaks, it’s enough to make a significant impact on your home heating bill.

By covering up the drafts and air leaks in your home, you’ll see a major difference in your home’s heating costs since your heater isn’t working as hard. When it works less, it has less stress placed on it, which means it will last longer.

 

Air Leaks Shrewsbury NJ

Home maintenance often feels like a drain on your time and finances. Staying on top of any potential issues is a proactive way to keep a bigger problem from surfacing in the future. When you have the right information, including where air leaks are commonly located, you can protect yourself by preventing many of the air leaks that cause your home to become inefficient.

Although air leak prevention enhances your home’s energy efficiency…

tuning up your heating system also helps. Both go hand in hand. This is because your heater needs annual maintenance so that it can keep your home nice and warm throughout the wintertime. This also helps reduce how much you pay each month since your heater won’t have to work as hard. Make sure you contact Lawes Company to schedule an appointment today. Our NATE certified HVAC contractors will make your system perform better. They’ll also suggest ways you can improve your home’s energy use. So, give us a call today to schedule an appointment.

 

 

Some of the areas we service include: Eatontown, Fort Monmouth, Oceanport, Shrewsbury and these zip codes: 07724, 07703, 07757, 07702 as well as all surrounding areas in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Contact us now at (732) 741-6300 to find out more!