One of the best ways to start making your house more ecologically efficient is by minimizing energy loss from drafts. The most likely places to find drafts are around windows and doors leading to the outside or unheated (winter)/uncooled (summer) spaces.
Getting Started:
The first thing to do is to determine if drafts are an issue in your living space. Chances are if you are reading this you have an idea that drafts may be an issue in your home. There are numerous ways and degrees that one can minimize drafts from stuffing rags in large spaces to hiring a consultant go through your home with special equipment to determine where you are losing energy. I will describe a few of the more simple methods to find and repair this problem for people who may not be willing to replace all of their windows and doors quite yet.
First, turn on exterior lights outside all exits to your home at night. Stand inside with the lights turned off. Look all around the doors, particularly at the top and bottom and see if any light shines through. Mark the gaps with tape like painter’s tape (Bright blue or light green masking tape is nice as it can be removed in a few days without damaging the surface where you put it).
Next, check your windows. If they rattle in their frames they are likely letting in a lot of outside air. Feel around the outside of each window with your palm, if there is a draft you will likely feel it. Mark the areas with tape so that you can go back and address them further when you have checked all of the windows. Be sure to feel around the outside of the window trim as well since air may pass through there if the windows were not sealed well or at all when they were installed. Mark all of the lengths where you feel drafts with bits of tape. As a temporary measure you can even cover the gaps with tape and see if just that makes a noticeable difference. Again, remember to use a tape that will not damage the finish when you remove it in a couple of days. If you unsure whether you are felling a draft or just the cold air radiating through glass, you can also try this technique with a small piece of tissue or fabric and see if it moves when it passes around the window.
Once you have determined the major culprits of your energy loss you decide the best way to stop the gaps. There are a lot of ways to fix these problems and it is important to not go overboard. Remember, if your home has single paned windows in rattling frames, you will not stop all of the air loss, but you can minimize your current air loss significantly and make a big difference with little effort.
Fixing Door Drafts:Most hardware stores stock weather stripping, door bottoms and thresholds. Starting at the bottom of the door and determine if you need a door threshold ,these are made of aluminum or oak wood .I recommend aluminum as it is cheaper, more durable, the rubber seals can be replaced, it comes in different colors, and it is recyclable. It is also likely that you can fix your problem with a door bottom. There are two main types of door bottoms: flat and U-Channel. They are a combination of vinyl and metal and come with the screws you need to mount. If possible, spend a little more for the U-Channel as it will be more effective in keeping the air out. It tucks under the door rather that just being mounted to one side. Be sure to measure the thickness of the door before you go to the hardware store as they do vary. Once you have the door bottom in front of the door, measure and cut to the appropriate length as described on the instructions and install one screw on either end of the door bottom. It is tricky to get the door bottom at that perfect place where it is not too hard to close the door, does not damage the vinyl on the bottom, or does not leave an air gap and only minimally helps the problem. Take your time and be patient as it most certainly will take several adjustments before you get it right. After the door bottom/threshold has been installed you are ready for weather stripping. If you do not have weather stripping already installed, I would install it even if you do not feel a draft. It is almost certainly going to save energy and it is quite inexpensive. There are a lot of door jambs (the wood that the door is hinged to and latches to) that have weather stripping integrated already. If yours does not, buy some and start with the top of the door. There are some adhesive weather strips for a quick fix but they will soon disappoint when the adhesive becomes fails and it falls off. I recommend weather stripping that is three pieces (two long sides and one shorter top piece) made of metal with a vinyl strip attached. It should come complete with painted metal screws and they do come in a variety of colors as well. Close the project door and start by cutting the to piece to length and screwing in screw at each side and the middle. Just fasten it so the vinyl lightly pushes against the door (too much against the door will make the door not close properly, to little against the door will be ineffective in stopping the air flow). Continue with each side and be sure to stop often to make sure the door opens and closes properly the entire time.
Fixing Window Drafts:
Window drafts can be a bit more tricky as there are many types of windows and many products to work with.
For the obvious loose pane there is glazing compound and glazing stars (little metal pieces that push in the wood pane and hold the glass tight against the wood then get covered with a hand kneaded strand of glazing compound (found at the paint or hardware store) that is pushed into a 45 degree slant along the outside edge of the window pane.
A good diagram of different window types and ways to insulate can be found here.
The first thing is to determine if your windows are casement (open in or out and mounted with some sort of hinge), double hung (slide up or down), transom (hinged at the top and open outward, like a casement window turned 90 degrees), or fixed (not designed to open). Depending on your level of confidence, desire, spare time, motivation, and overall window draftiness, this may be something to start out with using baby steps. Find one window, buy enough material and decide that you will complete that one window first. It can be daunting at first to think of the whole house so I recommend just focusing on one window and then deciding on the rest of the job after that. Remember, you will learn a lot about how to do it the first time that will help make the others go more efficiently and quickly.
As for drafts found around the window trim, I suggest simply running a bead of caulking around the gaps to close them up. Apply a tube of latex caulking using a caulking gun and follow up the bead immediately after with a lightly damp cloth. The same goes for gaps found around fixed window frames. Keep in mind, these areas will need a quick coat of paint afterward as the caulk will be a different color than the paint (even white caulk that looks like white paint will discolor shortly). For natural wood use a clear caulking product and be sure to wipe away all excess material.
For the very ambitious, remove the wood trim by cutting with a sharp blade where the trim meets the wall and carefully prying away the wood. After carefully removing the trim and marking where each piece goes, find gaps where air is passing under the trim and fill with insulation strips or spray insulation. Cut off excess insulation when dry and replace trim.
You can also help energy loss using pull down shades where possible. This will make it that much harder for air to pass from outside in and vice versa thereby keeping you more comfortable and saving energy. Do not forget to make use of the sun’s energy by letting the rays in when it makes sense.
Other Possible Drafty Places:
Other common air gaps include attic stairways, chimneys dryer vents and ceiling fans.Attic Stairways: If you have a retractable stair into your attic, make sure you have weather stripping installed up in the attic space (again, if you turn on a light in the attic at night and look from below, you may find obvious openings that should be closed off). It might also make sense to install some rigid insulation (found at a larger hardware store) on the top-side of the stairway. Rigid insulation is very light and easy to cut or score and break with a sharp blade. An adhesive caulk can be used to adhere it to wood surfaces.
Chimney: If your chimney does not have a closeable flue you are probably losing a lot more heat than you realize when your fireplace is not in use. This site has a really nice, simple, and quick remedy for this common problem.
Dryer Vents: All clothes dryers should have a vent that leads from the dryer to the outside of the dwelling. Find yours and if possible, put our hand over it from the outside when the dryer is not hot to see if the vent is staying closed and if a lot of warm air is escaping. The vent should be designed so that when warm air from the dryer is being blown out, it opens, but closes when the dryer is off. If you do not have this kind of vent, buy and install one from the hardware store. It can be a bit tricky to get the venting pipe behind the vent to attach well to the vent itself and this is where a duct clamp supplemented with high quality duct tape can really help.
Interior Ceiling Fans: If you have a ceiling fan that attaches to the ceiling just below the roof, check to see if air is escaping through that fixture hole. If so, carefully use spray insulation (sparingly as it expands a lot in minutes) and/or caulking around the fixture box where it meets the ceiling material.
What is the benefit?
While it is difficult to quantify the exact benefits of stopping draft problems, you will likely feel the difference in your home once you remedy any major drafts. And most certainly, if that happens you will also notice a lower utility bill in the near future.
Cost to benefit analysis
The items I have discussed to help stop these drafts are quite inexpensive to buy and install and will be a fraction of the savings you will incur as the result of stopping or slowing the “air leaks” in your home.
What do you need to do it?
Painter’s making tape
Hack Saw (saw with a metal cutting blade)
Matte knife
Putty knife
Caulking Gun with Latex caulk tubes
Cordless drill or Screw gun with Phillips head tip
Tape Measure
Hammer and small nails (to help start screw holes)
Tin Snips (To cut weather stripping pieces)