10 Simple Tips for Sealing Air Leaks

1. Caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows, as well as areas where plumbing, ductwork, or electrical wiring comes out of your walls, floors, ceilings, baseboards, cabinets, and various soffits. A ton of air escapes through your home through these tiny openings every day, so it is important to seal them up as much as possible.
2. In gaps where you may not be able to use caulking and weatherstripping to keep air in, use foam sealant tape instead.
3. Put foam tape behind your electrical outlets and switch plates. You should be able to find this material at your local hardware store or through multiple outlets online.
4. Insert flexible foam gaskets at door bottoms. Oftentimes, replacing the existing bottoms of doors and thresholds helps to better lock in air.
5. Find dirty, moldy, or patchy spots in your insulation. Dirty or moldy insulation is not only bad for your air quality and overall health, but for HVAC system efficiency. Air often leaks out of nasty, broken down insulation, so remove any dirty or moldy parts as necessary and use spray foam to fill in the gaps. You may also be able to use flashing tape to repair your insulation.
6. Put up storm windows over your existing single-pane windows or replace your windows altogether with low-emissivity windows. These windows will not only help lock air in, but also prevent excess solar rays from entering your home and lowering your AC unit’s effectiveness.
7. Cover your kitchen exhaust fan when you are not using it. Even when it is not on, you can still lose a ton of air out of this device.
8. Make sure your dryer vent is not blocked. Not only will this help prevent air from leaking out where it’s not supposed to, it will also ensure an accidental fire does not occur in your home.
9. Close the fireplace flue damper when not in use. This might sound like a no brainer for the summer, but you’d be surprised how many people leave their fireplace damper open, allowing air to get out year-round.
10. Seal air leaks around fireplaces, furnaces, chimneys, and water heaters with sheet metal or other fire-resistant materials. You may also be able to use furnace cement caulk to seal air in around heat-generating fixtures.

For more information on how you can save money and enjoy more air conditioning power, give us a call today! AAA Service Plumbing, Heating & Electric is available by phone at (303) 622-3449. You can also send us a message online.