Filling The Gaps To Save A Bundle:
Household air is always in transition.
Conditioned inside air moves out and outside air
moves in (requiring reconditioning.) The rate at
which air does this is called the infiltration
rate. A very tight house will see its total
volume of air exchanged about once an hour while
a very loose one will lose its heated air at
three times that rate. The difference in utility
bills for the two houses would be huge. Most
houses have a handful of places or areas which
account for the bulk of these losses. Fill these
gaps and you will substantially lower your
energy costs.
Ductwork:
Seal the joints of un-insulated return air
ductwork through un-insulated attics and crawl
spaces with duct tape. These returns pull a
partial vacuum and cold air will be drawn into
them from these spaces. Consider wrapping them
with insulation.
Dampers:
Look up inside the firebox with a flashlight to
check your fireplace damper. It should seal
tightly all around its edges. Clean out any
debris or mortar that prevents a tight fit. If
you don't have a glass fire screen, be sure to
keep the damper closed when the fireplace isn't
being used. Check bathroom exhaust fan flappers
by feeling around the fan for drafts on cold
windy days. Remove the ceiling register and drop
the fan to unstick a drafty damper. Pivoting
dampers in kitchen exhaust fan ducts emptying
into attic spaces often stick open due to grease
accumulations. Clean them with "Pine Sol." Clean
lint from the flapper on the dryer exhaust duct
to make sure it closes properly.
Basements and Crawl Spaces:
Wood frame houses will have floor joists resting
on a "sill plate" mounted to the foundation
walls. Caulk the space between the bottom of the
sill plate and the top of the foundation. Caulk
around electrical and gas pipe entrances through
the foundation. Stuff fiberglass blanket
insulation between joist ends against the
outside walls. Make sure any gaps at the floor
above are blocked off. Tape around steel framed
(hopper type) basement windows. Stuff fiberglass
into cantilevered floor cavities that overhang
foundation walls; fill the entire cavity.
Doors:
Weather-strip around the top and sides of doors.
Use a compressible weather stripping that tacks
to the door jambs. Make sure the threshold is a
tight fit at the bottom of all doors. Take the
threshold up and caulk under it if necessary. A
"sweep" attached to the inside bottom face of a
door will aid a poor sealing threshold. This
operates like a thin brush connecting the bottom
of the door to the floors.
Windows:
Install felt to take up space on window parts
that fit poorly. (Make certain that the locks
work to pull the sashes together.) Use rope
caulking pressed into cracks around window
sashes that cannot be made to fit tightly. (Rope
caulking is the most practical answer to
tightening steel casement windows.) Tack felt
strips to the top of the upper sash and the
bottom of the lower sash for loosely fitted
double hung (the kind that move up and down)
wood windows.
Switches and Plugs:
Install foam gaskets behind switch and plug face
plates on outside walls.
Ceiling Openings:
Lighting fixtures, duct registers, and other
openings through ceilings should be sealed
around to prevent falling air drafts. (WARNING:
Most lighting fixtures that project through a
ceiling into insulated spaces require three
inches of space to any insulation to prevent
heat buildup and fire. This automatically sets
up holes through your insulation blanket and
accounts for cold drafts through the lighting
fixture itself.) Fix this with a gasket under
the rim of the lens cover or change the lighting
fixture. Safe "Hi Hat" light fixtures that can
be covered with insulation are label IC
(Insulation Contact) and are available from
lighting distributors. Older lights can be
fitted with cool running fluorescent bulbs.
Minor Miracles With Cheap Materials:
You will need several rolls of fiberglass
blanket insulation (3 1/2 inch thickness is
fine), some rope caulk (a type of caulk that
comes threaded on a cardboard backer like fat
shoelaces), duct tape, weather-stripping and a
pair of work gloves.
WARNING: It Can Be Overdone:
An excessively tight house can develop
condensation problems. ALL houses should have
kitchen and bath power exhaust fans and should
have vents through the attic spaces. About the
only old houses that develop condensation
problems through tighten up measures are solid
masonry houses which have their old drafty
windows upgraded to very tight fitting new ones
and have no exhaust fans. Unusually tight houses
may require the aid of an "Air-to-Air Heat
Exchanger," a device which efficiently transfers
heat energy from outgoing inside air to incoming
outside air while making the exchange.
Almost all older homes will respond very
favorably to tighten up measures.
How and Where the Air Gets in and Out:
There are thousands of tiny openings through the
skin of older houses but a relatively small
number of larger openings account for the bulk
of infiltration losses. Most of these can be
plugged easily and cheaply.
Floors:
If you ever refinish flooring, consider caulking
between the baseboard and the floor prior to
installing new shoe molding. Stuff pieces of
fiberglass insulation around ducts and pipes
penetrating floors. Use gloves since the
fiberglass can "pin prick" you.
Attics:
Most attics are incompletely insulated so that
heat can readily escape through uninsulated
areas. Examine the attic floor around a
fireplace chimney, above bathrooms and closets,
over kitchens and stairs, and the top of whole
house exhaust fans. Lay fiberglass blankets over
uncovered spaces. Construct a shell cover for a
whole house exhaust fan from cardboard boxes
stapled together and then staple the insulation
to the back of the box. Do the same for attic
pull down stairs and staple insulation to the
tops of attic access hatches.
Heating Equipment:
If your gas or oil fired furnace or boiler is
located within the heated living space of the
house it uses the already heated air to combust
its fuel. If it is in a small room with a vent
through a door, consider taping over the vent,
sealing around the door with weather-stripping
and ducting outside air into the room. Many
times you can run a duct up into the attic.
Consult local building authorities for the
proper size duct. If the equipment is installed
in a larger space, you might consider installing
a "flue damper" in the exhaust flue of the
appliance. These devices restrict the flue
opening when the device is not running. This can
provide big savings since open flues are direct
pathways for inside air to exit the house. Handy
amateurs should limit themselves to installing
thermally activated flue dampers on gas
appliances only. Leave electrically operated
dampers and dampers on oil burning equipment to
professionals.
NOTE: Blowers doors can be used to check for high
infiltration rates and duct blasters can be used
to check for leaky duct work. This type of work
is often available from companies specializing
in energy conservation.