A Guide To Caulking And Weatherstripping Your Yuma-Area Home

If you’re looking for ways to save energy in your southwest Arizona home, caulking and weatherstripping are simple cost-effective ways to achieve your goal. Even if you have a high-efficiency HVAC system and plenty of insulation, you can lose energy if your home has air leaks. The cost of sealing the leaks by caulking and weatherstripping is not very high and you can usually get your money back in the form of energy savings within a year.A Guide To Caulking And Weatherstripping Your Yuma-Area Home

The first step in sealing your home is locating the air leaks. A professional energy audit  is the most effective means to find where your home has leaks. If you’re ready to start sealing today however, you can assume that your home’s air leaks are located in the following areas:

  • Windows.
  • Doors.
  • Attic hatches.
  • Openings for pipes or wires.
  • Joints between walls and floors or ceilings.
  • Any area where a hole is cut into the envelope of your house.
  • Places where building materials meet.

Weatherstripping is your best choice for moveable joints such as window sashes and doors. Be sure to select weatherstripping intended for the specific purpose to ensure that it can hold up to the wear it will get. When applying weatherstripping, make sure that the surface is clean and dry. Apply it to the top and bottom of window sashes and around the frame of doors.

When it comes to caulk read the label to find the correct kind of caulk for the area where you’ll be applying it. The surface area where the caulk is going should be clean and dry. Position the caulking gun at a 45-degree angle and apply the caulk in a continuous stream. Make sure that the caulk is adhering to both sides of the opening and push it down into the opening with a putty knife if it tries to ooze out. Use enough to fill the entire opening, adding more if it begins to shrink up.

For more information about saving energy by caulking and weatherstripping or any other HVAC matters, please contact us at Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Co.We’ve proudly served the Yuma area 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 weatherstripping and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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