Part II: Reducing Inefficiencies throughout Your Home in .NET

Printer QR in .NET Part II: Reducing Inefficiencies throughout Your Home

The good news is that most attic leaks are straightforward, if not easy, to fix On the down side, most attics are a hassle to move around in, and some are just plain dangerous If you climb into the attic to check for leaks or to fix things like leaks in your overhead light fixtures, you ll find out what it s like to be a human pretzel Although you may not be able to avoid contorting yourself into all sorts of odd positions, you can take these steps to keep the mess down and make your trek up there more bearable and safe (attics are notoriously cold in winter and hot in summer): Do it in the morning when it s cool Wear a lightweight, disposable coverall (from the paint department) Wear a dust mask or particulate respirator Wear knee pads, which you can get at any hardware store Use a flashlight that clamps around your head and shines down onto your work Plan ahead Stage the job before you try it so you ll know which tools you need, and take the right tools up with you Be careful where you step Otherwise, you may fall through the ceiling

When your windows are all open, your home is basically a part of Mother Nature s fantastic domain When you shut your windows and doors, it s another matter entirely unless your house isn t well sealed Some windows, for example, let in a lot of air, even when they re closed Same with doors And electrical outlets can leak air as well, just as can the light fixtures in your ceiling Therefore, you can improve energy efficiency just by closing up these gaps In this section, I present some valuable tips on how best to fix leaks There are basically three kinds of fixes: weatherstripping, caulking, and expandable foam All three have their time and place When sealing any home, be careful about indoor air pollution and combustion appliance back drafts Back drafting occurs when the various combustion appliances and exhaust fans in a home have to compete for air because there simply isn t enough to go around An exhaust fan may pull combustion gases back into the living space, for example, in which case you want to make sure you are ventilating combustion gases into the great outdoors rather than your home s interior If your home burns fuel, you can avoid back drafts by making sure that the combustion system has an adequate air supply (One way to tell whether your home is sealed too tightly is to note whether you get condensation on your windows during the winter If so, you don t have adequate ventilation) Go to 13 for more information about how to adequately ventilate your home

Weatherstripping works great around doors and windows and where seals can t be made permanent (as with caulking) The trick is to get the right stuff, and the best way to do this is to take a sample of the existing seal (if there is one) to your local hardware store, where the salespeople will be able to sell you the appropriate new material Foam and wrapped foam (a layer of vinyl or plastic wrapped around a foam core) are usually best and cheapest Whatever weatherstripping you buy, be sure to follow the directions on the label Here are a few other suggestions to make weatherstripping a breeze: Make sure to measure how much length you need before you buy And if you end up with too little, don t stretch the material: It ll pull back over time and come loose If you can, buy a kit to seal a door or window straight from the manufacturer of that door or window The biggest culprits for air leaks are double-wide sliding doors, and the seals for these usually are best purchased straight from the manufacturers because they re very specific to a particular style of door If you can t buy the same type of weatherstripping (because it s no longer available, for example), have no fear Weatherstripping is pretty versatile stuff You may need to use your imagination to figure out ways to cut it to fit into strange spaces, in which case you ll find that a good, sharp box-cutting knife is just the thing Sometimes shutting a door or window right after weatherstripping has been applied is difficult, but this usually tapers off in a week or two If it doesn t, give it another week or two If that doesn t do the trick, get out the ubiquitous box-cutter and hack away Most garage doors have a rubber seal on the bottom called an astragal These are expensive, but in some cases they can make a big difference in your home s comfort If your garage is well sealed from the home, you probably don t have to worry about this seal But if you get drafts or your garage is perpetually cold, changing the seal may be worth it