Sealing the Deal: A Guide to Identifying and Eliminating Air Leaks in Your Home
You’ve likely heard your own parents or grandparents yell, “close the door we’re not heating the whole neighborhood”. As a homeowner you want to make sure that’s true and you’re keeping every bit of cool (or hot) air that you can, inside where it belongs.
There are a few ways that you can check your home for air leaks to ensure that your money isn’t being wasted.
- Take a look. Sometimes while simply looking around the doors and windows of your home, you may notice a visible gap in the seal or you can see daylight shining through.
- Candle/Smoke test. On a breezy day, light a candle and slowly move it around your doors and window seals. If you see the flame flicker or notice smoke blowing around then you likely have a leak.
- Electrical Outlets. Simply run your hand across the electrical outlets in your home or anywhere different types of materials meet the walls. If your outlets aren’t properly sealed, you’ll notice air blowing in on your hand as you test.
- Check Insulation. Crawl in your attic or under your home and look for any gaps or thinning of insulation.
- Ductwork. Faulty or leaking ductwork is often a culprit when we get a service call for a customer saying, “my home isn’t heating/cooling properly.” To avoid this, visually inspect your ducts for any small tears, cracks, or gaps, especially where there are joints. Should you find a hole, patch it with duct tape until it can be properly repaired.
- Energy Audit. Many electrical companies will offer a complimentary energy audit to help pinpoint any leaks or problems. Duke Energy offers a free home energy house call to their current customers which checks for air leaks, insulation levels and more.
- Call Thornton’s. Just like you have the oil levels checked routinely in your car, you should also schedule an HVAC tune up twice a year to keep your unit running smoothly. Our maintenance agreements cover a multiple point inspection, including potentially leaking air ducts, once in the spring and again in the fall.
Eliminating air leaks in your home can not only save you money, but will keep your heating and air units running more efficiently as well. As always, Thornton’s Heating & Air is here to assist with any of your HVAC needs. Call your trusted source for over 50 years today!
