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HEATING & COOLING -
Weatherizing Your Home (continued)
a. Check insulation levels in your attic, exterior and basement walls, ceilings, floors and crawl spaces. Make sure the insulation is in place and not missing.
b. Check for holes and cracks in your walls and ceilings, around and in your windows and doors, around your light and plumbing fixtures and electrical boxes, and around your attic hatches and dryer vents where you might have air leaks. An easy way to do this is to hold a lit incense stick next to these areas to see if the smoke stream moves horizontally. If so, you probably have an air leak.
c. Inspect heating and air conditioning ductwork for air leaks. Leaky ducts can often account for up to 30% or more of your total heating and cooling costs. If the heated or cooled air does not make it into the living areas it’s wasted.
2. Fix leaks in heating/AC ductwork. First, repair sections that should obviously be joined but have separated. Next repair obvious holes and unsealed joints in the ducts, such as where ducts attach to vents. Finally, turn your system on and look for air leaks throughout the duct system by feeling for escaping air.
a. When choosing a tape for duct repair, avoid common duct tape. It really does not work well. Look for a mastic, butyl tape, foil tape or other approved tapes.
b. Make sure all duct insulation is in place and repair all rips. If the ducts
are not insulated, consider insulating them. Also, be sure a well-
c. If you are adding new construction, consider placing the ductwork in conditioned spaces to achieve greater efficiencies.
d. Consider getting a professional contractor to assist with duct repairs. Ducts
that do not work properly can potentially cause carbon monoxide problems, if you
have a gas, fuel-
3. Install adequate insulation and replace missing insulation to keep the heat and cooling you generate in the house, and the outside temperatures outside.
a. Since heat rises, proper insulation in the attic is a must for controlling heating
bills, although attic insulation will also aid in reducing air conditioning costs.
Check to see if you have the recommended amount of insulation for your area. A
minimum of R-
b. Adding insulation under your floors that are exposed to either crawl spaces or
basements can save in both heating and air conditioning costs. R-
c. Once a house is built, correcting wall insulation is difficult and expensive. However, if your wall insulation is deficient, consider having a foam or other type of insulation suitable to retrofit wall insulation installed.
d. To help with cooling costs in warm climates, a foil reflective insulation can be installed underneath the exposed roof framing to reduce heat buildup in the attic and reduce the temperature of the attic.
e. If your furnace uses hot water and radiators to heat your home, insulate the pipes to the radiators to prevent the hot water from cooling off in the pipes.
4. Caulk and weather strip to prevent air leaks.
a. Make sure there are no cracks, holes or gaps around window and door frames. Caulk as necessary, on both the outside and inside, to stop air flow.
b. Check weather stripping on all windows and doors. Add or replace to stop air
flow. Tighten or replace window and door locks to ensure they clamp the windows and
doors tight on the weather stripping. Do not forget weather stripping on the attic
entrance or whole-
c. Caulk around any places where pipes, wires, can lights and vents go through exterior walls, floors or ceilings and there is a visible space. This includes pipes under sinks, vent pipes for oven and dryer exhaust, electrical wires, etc. Make sure to look in the attic floor for pipes, exhaust fans and can lights coming through your ceiling. It will be necessary to roll back the insulation to find many of these and install proper caulking or weather stripping. However, do not place insulation around can lights and other electrical fixtures that protrude into the attic floor, unless they are approved to come in contact with insulation.
d. Insulate your outlets and switches with insulating pads behind the switch plates.
e. Insulate around chimneys.
f. Check to see if vents for the stove and dryer have louvers or covers that close when not in use. Sometimes these get stuck or become detached allowing cold air to rush into your house.
g. Remove window air conditioning units during the cooler months to eliminate heat escaping from your house.
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