How to Lower Your Energy Bill by Insulating Your Home
With utility bills on the rise, you may be looking for ways to save on energy costs for heating and cooling your home. While there are all sorts of costly improvements you can make to cut down on your monthly bill, sealing is a cheap and easy step you can take to change how much energy you use each month. Here’s what a sealant is and how to use it.
Various types of sealant
There are many places in your home that might not get in the way of sealant. Beyond the obvious doors and windows, sealing spaces around interior doors between insulated and non-insulated spaces, such as a garage, basement, or attic door, can help cut energy costs. There are many types of seals, from self-adhesive foam to rubber and metal . The type you need depends on the size of the gap you are filling and the hole you are working on, so figuring out which type you need is the first step.
Internal windows
For interior windows, you’ll need foam duct tape , and if you have window sashes that slide up and down to open and close, a V-band or metal sash interlock is best. Start by opening the window and attach the tape to the bottom of the sash where it touches the lower sill when the window is closed. If the top window moves to open, you will also need to tape the top of the top sash.
Once this is done, the sides of the window must also be sealed. A self-adhesive V-strip can be attached to the inside edge of the channel between the side of the channel and the edge of the sash. If you decide to use a metal sash stripper, you need to align it in the channel with the sides of the sash and nail it down. Make sure that the cleaning does not interfere with the operation of the window. If you’re not sure what type of stripping is right for your particular window, take a picture of it at your local hardware store to ask for advice.
doors
For doors, the trick is to make a seal that touches the floor and seals any air gaps and also allows the door to open and close. To cover the bottom of the door, a draft plank is best. They are self-adhesive and nail. To install, you need to cut it to fit the bottom of your door and then attach it to the bottom edge of the door so it overlaps the window sill. This will give you a good seal when the door is closed.
For the sides and top of the door, you will need a product that fits on the inside edge of the door jamb and is shaped to close the gap between the door and the inside of the jamb. The installation process for this piece is simply to cut it to fit your door, then peel it off and glue it to the inside edge of the door jamb. Once this is done, you should have a good seal all around the door.
Other spaces
For other gaps that can cause drafts, such as around the edges of an attic hatch, vinyl or foam seals work best. It should be placed on the inside edge of the opening so that when the hatch is closed, the trim fits snugly between the hatch and the window sill on which it sits. Sealing these gaps can affect both winter heat loss and summer air conditioning, and can also cut your utility bills by 5-10%.