Making sure your HVAC system runs properly and efficiently is important for making your home a comfortable environment to live in, as well as keeping your energy bills low. However, air leaks throughout the home can make your HVAC system work harder while wasting energy. For this reason, it’s important to find these costly air leaks and to fix them.
Some air leaks can spotted just by looking for daylight on a sunny day. However, some are much more difficult to detect. To find costly air leaks in your home’s perimeter, try this do-it-yourself strategy. On a day when it’s windy outside, turn on your exhaust fans and walk around the inside perimeter of your home with a lighted incense stick. If the smoke wavers, you’ve found an air leak.
Once you have found the sources of your home’s costly air leaks, you will want to seal them.
- Use caulk, expanding spray foam or weatherstripping to seal air leaks, depending on where and how big they are. For leaks in your air ducts, use mastic sealant or metal tape. (Don’t use common duct tape, since this does not last.)
- Since windows can be a major source of air leaks, cover them with storm windows or replace your windows altogether with double-pane windows that are more efficient. Use Energy Star-certified replacement windows.
- Close the damper on your fireplace and turn off the exhaust fan in your kitchen and bathrooms when you’re not using them. Otherwise, you’re blowing conditioned air right out of your house.
Follow these tips and suggestions for finding and fixing those costly air leaks. Though you can do some of this yourself, hire a professional contractor to do as thorough a job as possible. For the most respected and trustworthy HVAC service in the Metro-East area, contact Ernst Heating & Cooling today.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Hamel, Illinois and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Â