Sealing Air Leaks Is an Easy Task That Reaps Significant Rewards

Air leaks in your Yuma area home can considerably reduce the efficiency of your cooling system sending conditioned air – and a good portion of your energy dollars – outdoors. Detecting air leaks and sealing them is a straightforward task that will considerably increase your comfort level, reduce energy waste, and lower utility costs associated with keeping your home cool this summer.

Detecting air leaks

After closing all your doors and windows and turning on any exhaust fans in your home, light an incense stick on Sealing Air Leaks Is an Easy Task That Reaps Significant Rewardsa windy day and pass it slowly throughout your house near these common sites of leaks:

  • Doors and windows.
  • Service entrances and pipes that protrude through exterior walls.
  • Electrical outlets and switches.
  • Ceiling fixtures.
  • Attic and crawlspace entrances.
  • Fireplaces.

Where the smoke wavers, you have an air leak.

Sealing air leaks

  • Apply caulk around window and door frames and along baseboards.
  • Add weatherstripping between movable parts of doors and windows.
  • Consider replacing old, inefficient windows with double-pane models with a low solar heat gain coefficient to help reduce heat gain and considerably increase your comfort year round.
  • Install energy-efficient thresholds with sealing gaskets on exterior doors.
  • Apply expandable foam caulk around pipes and service entrances on exterior walls.
  • Install precut foam gaskets behind outlet and switch plates.
  • Seal small gaps in ceiling fixtures with caulk or use expandable caulk for larger gaps.
  • Tightly close your fireplace damper and consider sealing it with fire-resistant sheet metal if you never use it. Inflatable chimney balloons can be installed for a temporary seal during seasons when the fireplace isn’t in use.
  • Insulate around your attic hatch and crawlspace entrance.

Don’t forget your ducts

In the typical home leaky ductwork is responsible for the loss of about 20 percent of the conditioned air that moves through the ducts. Seal loose joints and cracks in your ducts with mastic duct sealant or metal tape. Insulate ductwork in unconditioned spaces. Check the connections between ducts and supply and return registers to ensure a tight seal.

For more expert advice about detecting and sealing air leaks in your home, please contact us at Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company. We’ve been helping to ensure the year-round comfort of Yuma area residents since 1952.

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

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