Knowledge Base

Insulating & Sealing Air Leaks Tips

Improving your home's insulation is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to increase your home’s efficiency, especially in the attic.

To find out if you have enough attic insulation, measure the thickness of the insulation. If it is less than R-30 (11 inches of fiber glass or rock wool or 8 inches of cellulose), you could probably benefit by adding more. In Alaska, you should have between R-60 insulation in your attic. Don't forget the attic trap or access door.

Insulation Tips

Use higher density insulation on exterior walls, such as rigid foam boards, in cathedral ceilings and on exterior walls.
Recessed light fixtures can be a major source of heat loss, but you need to be careful how close you place insulation next to a fixture unless it is marked IC-designed for direct insulation contact. Check your local building codes for recommendations.
As specified on the product packaging, follow the product instructions on installation and wear the proper protective gear when installing insulation.

Sealing Air Leaks

Warm air leaking out of your home can waste a lot of your energy dollars. One of the quickest dollar-saving tasks you can do is caulk, seal, and weather strip all seams, cracks, and openings to the outside. You’ll greatly reduce heat loss and your heating bills.

Tips for Sealing Air Leaks

First, find the leaks, if you can. If you have a blower door test performed (like an energy rater will do during your initial audit in the Energy Rebate Program), walk around with your rater and feel for air streaming in at various points throughout your house. To find leaks without a blower door test, try the smoke pen method: On a windy day, carefully hold a lit incense stick or a smoke pen next to your windows, doors, electrical boxes, plumbing fixtures, electrical outlets, ceiling fixtures, attic hatches, and other locations where there is a possible air path to the outside. If the smoke stream travels horizontally, you've found a leak source.
Caulk and weather strip doors and windows that leak air.
Caulk and seal air leaks where plumbing, ducting, or electrical wiring penetrates through walls, floors, ceilings, and soffits over cabinets.
Install foam gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on walls.
Look for dirty spots in your insulation, which often indicate holes where air leaks into and out of your house. You can seal the holes with low-expansion spray foam made for this purpose.
Look for dirty spots on your ceiling paint and carpet, which may indicate air leaks at interior wall/ceiling joints and wall/floor joists. These joints can be caulked.
Install storm windows over single-pane windows or replace them with more efficient windows, such as double-pane. See Windows more information.)
When the fireplace is not in use, keep the flue damper tightly closed. A chimney is designed specifically for smoke to escape, so until you close it, warm air escapes-24 hours a day!
Insert an inflatable chimney balloon beneath your fireplace flue during periods of non-use. Fireplace flues are made from metal, and over time repeated heating and cooling can cause the metal to warp or break, creating a channel for hot or cold air loss. Chimney balloons are made from several layers of durable plastic and can be removed easily and reused hundreds of times. Should you forget to remove the balloon before making a fire, the balloon will automatically deflate within seconds of coming into contact with heat.
For new construction, reduce exterior wall leaks by installing house wrap, taping the joints of exterior sheathing, and comprehensively caulking and sealing the exterior walls.
Use foam sealant around larger gaps around windows, baseboards, and other places where warm air may be leaking out.
Kitchen exhaust fan covers can keep air from leaking in when the exhaust fan is not in use. The covers typically attach via magnets for ease of replacement.
Replacing existing door bottoms and thresholds with ones that have pliable sealing gaskets is a great way to eliminate conditioned air leaking out from underneath the doors.

How Does the Air Escape?

Air infiltrates into and out of your home through every hole and crack. About one-third of this air infiltrates through openings in your ceilings, walls, and floors.

A more efficient heating system could pay for itself in reduced energy bills in just a few years? Read more.