Air Seal Your Pasadena Home This Spring and Watch Your Energy Savings Soar

Air Seal Your Pasadena Home This Spring and Watch Your Energy Savings Soar

Air leaks in your Pasadena home waste energy and make your house less pleasant. These leaks allow cool air to escape from your house in the summer, leaving your interior uncomfortably warm. Here are some key tips on finding and sealing your home’s air leaks.

Finding leaks

• Look for any gaps in your house that might let air flow in or out of the home. These gaps often occur in areas such as door and window frames, where the foundation and siding meet and around chimneys and attic hatches. Other areas to inspect include around electrical outlets, where pipes enter the home and around fans and vents.
• You can also detect air leaks with a building pressurization test. Turn off any fans and gas-burning appliances on a cool, windy day, and close all of the home’s windows and exterior doors. Take an incense stick and pass it over sites where leaks typically occur. The smoke from the stick will start blowing if a leak is present.

Sealing the leaks
After you determine the location of the leaks, the next step is to seal them. You have a variety of sealing methods from which to choose.

• Caulking leaks works well for smaller gaps, such as around windows and doors and electrical outlets.
• Larger gaps around windows and doors often require weatherstripping. Attic access hatches are another area where weatherstripping is effective.
• If you have big gaps around plumbing pipes or vents, seal the leak with a foam spray.
• To air seal leaks where your chimney exits your home, adding metal strips of flashing might be necessary. You may want an experienced technician to perform this task.

For more expert advice concerning how to air seal your home and other topics related to home comfort, contact us at Air-Tro, Inc. We having been serving the Pasadena area since 1969.