Tips for Air Sealing a Home

If you’re experiencing surprisingly expensive energy bills during extremely hot or cold months, you’re probably a victim of air leakage. This unfortunate event occurs when there are small cracks allowing conditioned air from inside your climate controlled home to the outside world. Fortunately, here are some excellent tips for air sealing your home and making it a more efficient and comfortable environment.

Start by addressing the obvious leaks. Feel for drafts making their way through or around doors or windows and seal them thoroughly with caulk or weatherstripping. Slowly examine each threshold and ensure you fix every leak you can find. Be sure to also investigate the basement, garage, attic and crawlspace. These locations can be the worst culprits when it comes to air leakage.

For a total and complete seal, you may also want to consider supplementing an impermeable seal with additional insulation. This feature greatly contributes to the efficiency of any HVAC system by maintaining control over the house’s ventilation. Before buying any insulation, be sure to check its R-value. A higher R-value means it has more insulating power, but different ratings are recommended for different areas of the home.

Before thinking about investing in a completely new air conditioning unit, try just resealing and insulating the key areas of your home and seeing the results.

For more tips for air sealing or any other home comfort issues, contact the pros at Gulf Coast Air Systems. We’re proud to serve the HVAC needs of homeowners throughout the Brandon and Sun City Center areas of Florida.