With the fall quickly approaching, the humid, scorching Kentucky summer is coming to an end. If you paid a premium for your summer cooling costs, while still dealing with a home that was too hot and uncomfortable, it’s time to prepare for autumn and improve your home.
The Importance of Air Sealing
Your home is likely leaking about 3 times the amount of air it should, meaning the air you’ve paid to have cooled or heated is slipping through the cracks, taking your money and comfort with it! A professional air-sealing service will systematically uncover your house’s leaks through thorough testing, including a blower door test and thermal imaging with an infrared camera, to locate leaky areas and fix them with appropriate sealing techniques and materials.
Generally, the areas that need to be air-sealed most include:
Attic floor
Exterior walls
Windows & doors
Basement or crawlspace walls & rim joists
The “stack effect” is the phenomenon in which heated air rises through your home and escapes via the attic, and in turn outdoor air is pulled-into your home near the ground level. Stack effect is a big reason why your home needs to be air-sealed properly. Sealing the top and bottom of your home really well helps greatly reduce the “stack effect” problem.
Additionally, air escaping or entering through gaps and cracks carries moisture, heat and pollution with it. By properly air sealing your home, you will reduce your energy consumption, the potential for increased moisture issues, as well as excessive indoor air pollution.
Improving Your Home with Air Sealing
Air sealing will make your home more energy-efficient while also ensuring it’s comfortable and healthy for you and your family. Here are 3 benefits you will experience after you have your home air sealed:
1. Lower Energy Bills
Reducing energy bills is an essential part of enhancing your home's performance. Air-sealing ensures the air you will heat during the fall and winter will stay inside your home longer. Your furnace or heat-pump will be able to warm the air more efficiently, which translates to lower electric and gas utility bills.
2. Improved Home Comfort
Since more of your home’s conditioned air will remain indoors after air-sealing is complete, the temperature inside your home will remain more consistent on each floor too. Air-sealing will reduce drafts and keep humid outside air out in the summer as well, adding to your increased comfort year-round.
3. Enhanced Indoor Air Quality
Since “unconditioned” outdoor air can carry harmful pollutants and allergens, air-sealing helps prevent your home’s air from becoming contaminated with various impurities. Air-sealing will also reduce the likelihood for moisture issues inside your home, diminishing the possibility of mold and mildew growth. Your home’s indoor air quality can have a dramatic influence on your health and safety. Air-sealing will truly allow you to breathe easier!
Start the new season with a home improvement that will enhance your home’s health, comfort, and efficiency for many years to come.