Sealing Air Leaks — Caulking And Weatherstripping Tips

From frozen winters to scalding summers, homes in the northeastern portion of the United States are exposed to the full brunt of “Old Man Weather’s” wrath.

What you may not realize is that there are inexpensive ways to drive down the operating cost of keeping your home at a comfortable temperature on a year-round basis: caulking and weatherstripping.

Getting started

First things first, you should have a qualified technician come to your home and depressurize it using a blower door test. There are other do-it-yourself methods of depressurizing your home, but none are as effective. This will help to determine which areas of your home are leaking air so you can proceed forward in addressing them. Now that you’ve taken the appropriate steps to prepare your home, it’s time to start sealing air leaks.

Caulking

•  When using caulk, make sure to research which caulk is required for each area of your home.
• This may seem obvious, but read the directions on the compound cartridge!
• Start by cleaning the area and removing any existing caulk to the best of your ability.
• Don’t cut the tip of the tube off and always apply slowly.
• Hold the gun at a forty-five degree angle and caulk in one straight continuous stream.
• Release the trigger on the gun before pulling away to avoid creating a mess.
• Use a putty knife to push in any caulk that oozes out of a crack.
• Caulk is prone to shrinking after it dries, so a second application may be necessary to get the desired results.

Weatherstripping

• Only weatherstrip clean, dry surfaces with a temperature above 20 degrees.
• Measure twice before making any cuts.
• Apply the weatherstripping snugly so that it compresses when the window or door is shut.
• Attach a door-sweep to the bottom of your door to block draft-winds.
• Use a foam adhesive around the perimeter of air-conditioners.

These are just a few of the ways you can significantly increase your homes energy efficiency. For more expert advice on sealing air leaks in your Middletown-area home, contact the experts at C.R. Wolfe Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers 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.

CR Wolfe Heating services Middletown, NY. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!