Seal Your Home Properly: How to Fix Home Air Leaks

Having a properly sealed home does more than just protect it from water damage. Sealing also prevents air from leaking into your home and causing a variety of problems including higher energy bills and even mold growth. Knowing where to find air leaks, understanding the trouble they can cause, and learning how to fix them can help you save money, reduce energy use and feel more comfortable in your home.

Common Places for Home Air Leaks

Some areas where air leaks occur are easy to detect, such as around doors and windows. When air leaks are present in these spots, you’ll feel a draft from outside. You might also notice gaps or cracks around door and window frames.

Other common places for air leaks aren’t as simple to spot. Some of these places are difficult to access or hidden away in areas where you normally wouldn’t notice an air leak. Be sure to check for air leaks in the following areas:

• Attic hatch
• Plumbing vents
• Holes that wires or cables go through
• Recessed lights and the boxes they’re hidden inside (known as open soffits)
• Furnace duct
• Behind knee walls
• Basement rim joists between the foundation and wood frame

Keep in mind that air leaks can also occur in several other areas around your home, including electrical outlets and switch plates, gas and electrical service entrances, baseboards, dryer vents, and fireplace dampers. Look for cracks or gaps in these areas, or check for drafts which are usually easier to detect when it’s cold out.

Problems with Home Air Leaks

Air leaks might not seem like a big deal, especially when they’re coming from small cracks or tiny gaps, but they can cause significant problems over time. Air leaks can affect your home in the following ways:

Higher Utility Bills

Air leaks cause you to use more energy to heat and cool your home, which leads to higher utility bills during winter and summer. They let frigid air from outside into your home during winter, increasing your heating bills. During summer, hot air from outdoors can seep in, making your air conditioner work harder.

Reduced Comfort

These leaks can also compromise your home’s comfort levels. When outside air is able to enter your home, you end up with an unpleasant, drafty interior when it’s cold out.

Mold and Rot

Warmer air that enters through gaps and cracks can lead to more moisture inside, which allows mold to thrive. This moisture can also cause the wood inside your home to deteriorate, which can cause dangerous and costly structural problems.

Poor Indoor Air Quality

Excessive moisture that results from air leaks can have a negative impact on your indoor air quality. This can lead to health issues, especially in those with respiratory problems.

Home Sealing Strategies

If you have air leaks around your home, it’s important to seal up those areas. Depending on where the leaks are occurring, there are different home sealing methods to consider, such as:

Access doors

Air leaks can occur in gas and electrical service areas, but access doors can keep these places adequately sealed. Access doors make it easy for you or a repairman to get to the area when needed while also allowing you to keep these areas enclosed and sealed when they’re not in use.

Weatherstripping and Door Seals

Weatherstripping around doors and windows effectively seals these problem areas that are allowing air to leak inside. Door seals that fit tightly around the doors in your home help keep these areas free of drafts throughout the year.

Read the rest of this article on the WB Doors blog here: http://www.wbdoors.com/blog-layout/the-problem-with-home-air-leaks-and-how-to-fix-them