Seal Your Home, Make it More Energy Efficient and Save Money

Air leaks are a major portion of heating and cooling bills around the world. Holes and cracks in houses effectively allow money to flow out into the atmosphere. Insulating and sealing leaks is a great way to reduce energy consumption and save money. This guide offers suggestions for preventing air leaks in your house.

Let us begin with the outside of your house. At first glance, you might not notice any obvious leak points. Walk around your home with a tube of caulk and seal up any places where something enters your house. Examples include television cable, wiring, dryer vents, water faucets and gas pipes. Next, get some weather strip and put it on the openings of windows and doors. If there is a window that you no longer open, seal it with caulk for best results. You should also caulk around the outer edge. Next, get a latter and some high temperature sealant. Climb onto your roof and seal around your chimney.

Now that the outside of your home is sealed, let us move to the basement or crawl space. Start by sealing any cracks you find with caulk. Next, hang insulation on the walls to prevent air from leaving. Finally, as you did with the external wiring and plumbing, caulk around anything entering or exiting you basement or crawl space wall.

Moving into your main living space, use weather stripping on interior doors. Next, turn down the temperature of your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and wrap it in an insulation blanket. Lastly, turn off lights and watch your thermostat to prevent frivolous energy usage.

The last place in your house is your attic. You will want to insulate this area thoroughly, mainly between ceiling joists. Insulate to a thickness of at least ten inches. As you are installing the insulation, seal any holes you encounter and caulk anything entering or leaving the attic. This includes all plumbing stacks. Be sure to put weather stripping around the entrance door.

Finally, you should insulate the other areas of your home. All floors that are above unheated spaces should be insulated from below. The same is true for ceilings.

These steps will cost a little money upfront, but will pay dividends in the future. You will stay warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer for a lot less. Additionally, you can feel good knowing that you are reducing your energy consumption and living a little bit greener!