Why You're Losing Money
You're Home is Leaking Heat and Air Conditioning
You're losing money every month because your home is leaking. Most of the money you spend to heat and cool your home disappears through gaps and holes that are left over from the construction of your home.
When your home was built, thousands of pieces of wood, drywall and plywood were cut to size in a muddy field. Dozens of different construction workers assembled your home in the rain, wind and sometimes even snow. They hammered thousands of nails into the framing which now hold your house together. Oh yeah, and they did all this in a few weeks.
So it shouldn't be surprising that there are gaps and cracks in your home. There are just so many giant, heavy pieces of wood that all need to fit together perfectly to avoid gaps; it's damn near impossible. And even if they get it perfect, the wood that you're nailing into shrinks as it dries out.
Now it's true that building an air tight house is just about impossible. But limiting the amount of air that escapes from your home is something you can do yourself. There's just so many holes in your home that were drilled by electricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors. Finding and air sealing the leaks is easy if you know where to look. Each hole you fix stops air from pouring out of your house and saves you money.
Where You're Losing Money
It may be surprising to discover that most of the money you spend to heat and cool your home disappears through cracks and holes in your walls, floors and ceilings.
What's even more shocking is the amount of heat lost through the two things that are built to keep your home warm. Air leaking through your ductwork and fireplace account for a whopping 29% of the wasted heat and air conditioning.
Windows and doors are also a major contributor to high energy bills. Replacing them with Energy Star rated versions can help, but the cost is 100X greater than sealing your ducts or sealing your fireplace. Especially if you do-it-yourself.
Why are My Ducts Leaking?
Building codes for most of the past 50 years did not require the HVAC installers to properly seal the connections in between the ducts.
Ducts are nothing more than metal boxes and tubes that are manufactured in 5ft. sections. HVAC installers assemble them on site with sheet metal screws. The joints where the ducts connect creates a gap for the air travelling through them to escape.
These tiny leaks may seem harmless at first, but in reality there are hundreds of them. Each one allows dirt and dust into your home and releases precious hot and cold air out.
If you're ductwork travels through your attic or crawlspace the amount it's costing you can be even worse. As heat flows from the furnace through the ductwork, it can lose up to 70% of the heat or air conditioning before it reaches the rooms in your home.
Gaps and holes in the ductwork suck mold spores, dust and allergens out of the attic or crawlspace and transport them into your home.
Fireplaces
If you are one of the 100 million Americans with a fireplace in your home, you probably didn't know it's a major source of air leakage. Unfortunately, warm air flows up through your fireplace and out of your chimney 24/7 even when you're not using it.
Try it out for yourself, take a punk stick or an incense stick over next to your fireplace on a winter day. Hold it close and you'll see the smoke being drawn in through the fireplace.
Most fireplaces have a flue or damper which can be shut to prevent or limit air from going through the chimney when they are not in use. Unfortunately, fireplace dampers are made of metal which warps when it's heated. A warped damper can not make an air tight seal and no longer prevents air from escaping up through the chimney - even when they are shut.
Air sealing your fireplace is an easy DIY project that can save you over $300 a year on your energy bills. Check out this video to learn more...Sealing a Chimney - How to Create an Air Tight Removable Seal
Learn more about...
Finding Air Leaks
Air Sealing 101
Air Seal Your Attic
Air Seal Your Basement
Finding and Sealing Leaky Ducts
Repairing Large Holes in Ductwork