Racine Air Sealing Your Home Can Save You Power and Money

How to find and stop that draft. 
Our Racine homes have to breath, but they don't have to leak like a sinking ship. Taking charge of your homes drafty places is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to lower your power bill and save money. Your professional Racine home sealing contractor at Thermo Tight can assist you with your sealing needs so give them a call.

Drafty Places.

Let's look at drafty places this way: every place the builder cut or drilled a hole in your house is a potential drafty place. The electrician drilled holes for electrical wire, the plumbers drilled holes for pipes and drains, the heating man cut holes for ducts and vents, and the framer cut holes for access openings, windows, and doors.

Let's take a look at some of the more common drafty places and how to stop the draft.

1. Light switches and electric outlets. During a blower door decompression test, you can place your hand over a switch or outlet and feel the air coming into the room. Where does this air come from? Most of the air comes from the attic, the air follows the same route as the wire. Gaskets are available from your hardware store that are designed to fit under the switch or outlet cover and seal the cover to the wall.

2. Floor or ceiling heat registers: The heating contractor cut holes for placing the heating boots into the floor or ceiling. The registers that you see, fit into the boots and the heating ducts connect to the back side. Too often, the rectangular metal boot does not fit the opening cut in the floor or ceiling. Remove the register and look at the boot. A space between the boot and the floor boards is an air leak that allows air from the crawlspace to enter the house. First, the boot may need to have a few nails added to anchor the boot to the wood floor securely. Then take a tube of caulk and lay a nice bead around the edge where the boot meets the wood.

3. Attic and underfloor access covers: Besides windows and doors, access openings for entrance to the attic and underfloor are next in size. Most access openings have nice covers that fit in the opening and, at least, make it appear the opening is sealed. The trouble is, the contractor that made the cover for the opening was concerned about covering the opening and not at all concerned about sealing the opening. To seal the access opening to the underfloor, smooth and clean the surfaces that come together when the cover is in place. Attach 1/4 inch foam weatherization strip between the joining surfaces, attach batt insulation to the back of the cover and then set the cover into the opening. To help the foam strip seal the joint, set a box of your wife's old school books square on the lid.

4. Under the sink plumbing penetrations: Somehow the plumbing pipes must get from the underfloor space up to the sinks and faucets. The plumber drilled holes in the floor and sometimes the wall to make the connections. Once again, the plumber was a contractor that was interested in running a pipe and not the least interested in sealing holes. This is the place for a can of expanding foam. Remember, the foam grows after spraying so don't get too carried away. Work the foam around the opening where the water lines and the drain line leave the cabinet and head under the floor. Do not try to clean up extra foam right away, let the foam dry overnight and come back the next day with a sharp knife and trim off the extra foam.

Your off to a good start identifying and sealing air leaks in your Racine home. These four areas are almost always guilty of wasting energy until they have been sealed. Thanks for reading this article, hope it has been a help in your effort to save energy and money.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Don_Ames

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