5 Reasons Why You Should Find & Fix Air Leaks in Your Home
Have you ever walked through your house on a chilly day in winter and felt a draft of cold air? If that sounds familiar, you may have some air leaks to fix. Here are five reasons why you shouldn’t wait to take on this project!
1. Up to 30% of Your Energy Costs May Be Wasted on Leaks
Do you know where air could potentially be leaking in your home? Here is just a partial list of places:
- Door and window frames
- Electrical outlets
- Baseboards
- Weatherstripping
- Fireplace dampers
- Attic entrances
- Cable and phone line entry points
- Dryer vent opening
It doesn’t take much for air to come in or out of your home. But, every opening where it happens is a place where you are going to pay. Estimates say that between 10 and 30 percent of the energy used to heat and cool a home is lost to air leaks.
Think about it this way. For every $100 you pay to heat and cool your home, you may be wasting $30 of the total.
2. You Could Be Paying to Heat Your Uninsulated Attic
Many air leaks actually happen between the insulated part of the house and the attic above. It can happen around duct openings in the ceiling or even through cracks in the ducts. You may even find hairline cracks along the ceiling edge that allows air to go up and into the attic.
Take a walk-up in your attic. Can you see light coming in from the rooms below? Do you see staining in the insulation on the attic floor? Both are sure signs that you have air leaks. Check the ducts in the attic. Can you see cracks along with the corners or at the seams? That’s a sure sign your heated and cooled air is leaking into the attic.
3. Some Parts of Your Home Never Feel Comfortable
Do you have rooms in your home that never seem to be the right temperature? That back bedroom that is always too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter. It may be because the air running through the ducts is not reaching that room. The duct may have become detached from the vent or may have a major leak somewhere in the run. The room may also have inadequate insulation or major air leaks.
If you find an air leak and fix it, you may find that room becomes a lot more comfortable year round.
4. Most Leaks are Easy to Detect and Fix
Here’s the thing. It doesn’t take a lot of work or money to find most air leaks. And it usually doesn’t take much to fix them either.
Here’s a good example. Turn off all the HVAC and fans in your home so the air is still. Shut all windows and doors. Then light an incense stick and run it around your door and window frames. If you see the smoke blowing in or out, or becoming majorly disturbed, you have found a leak.
Here are more details on how to find air leaks in your house:
First, inspect areas outside your house where different building materials meet, such as your chimney and siding, foundation and brick, exterior corners, and outdoor faucets. Next, examine areas inside your house for gaps or cracks, including electrical outlets, window and door frames, vents and fans, and wall or window-mounted AC units. If you’re experiencing a decrease in efficiency or an increase in energy bills, it’s likely you’ll uncover at least one potential contributor. Depending on the issue, caulking, weather stripping, or applying spray foam to the source of your leak could provide a lasting solution.
5. It is the Environmentally Responsible Thing to Do
Why use more energy than you need to? It costs you money and it’s a waste of resources. The environmentally responsible option is to find those air leaks and close them up, especially if it can be done quickly and easily.
Need Air Leak Repair in Bryan / College Station?
These are just some of the many reasons to check for air leaks and get them fixed. If you want a professional opinion on your home’s airtightness, contact Superior Air Repair today. We are the HVAC specialists of Central Texas!
