How to Save Energy by Reducing Air Infiltration
Doors and Windows, Green Home, Insulation, Thinking Green, Video by Danny Lipford
Draftproofing your home reduces air infiltration which saves energy and lowers your heating and cooling bills. Steps include:
- Use a lit stick of incense to locate drafts in your home by watching where the smoke goes. This works particularly well on a windy day.
- Apply caulk and expanding foam to gaps and cracks around the perimeter of your house.
- Install foam gaskets around exterior plugs and switches
- Replace worn weather-stripping around doors and windows
- Check to see if the door sweep and threshold seal tightly at the bottom of the door.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
You’ve got to crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run. Those are some pretty basic facts. And, when you want to make your home green, there are some pretty basic things that should be done first. It’s called draftproofing your home. That means using caulk and expanding foam to seal the gaps and cracks all around the perimeter of your house…using foam gaskets around exterior plugs and switches…installing weather-stripping around doors and windows…and making sure the door sweep and threshold seal tightly at the bottom of the door. You can locate most drafts by using a lit stick of incense and watching where the smoke goes. This works particularly well on a windy day. It may sound pretty elementary, but it’s important to take care of and the great thing is that draftproofing will be the fastest return on your investment, since it costs so little but makes a big difference.
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