There are a wide variety of factors that play a role in how energy efficient a home is. This includes things like the age and model of the HVAC system and other major appliances along with the age and condition of the electrical panel and the rest of the electrical system.
One factor that many people don’t consider but can be equally important is the type of exterior doors and windows the house has. Also important is whether they are properly sealed to prevent air leaks. Here, we’ll explore the impact leaky windows and doors can have on efficiency along with the benefits of sealing them. We’ll also look at what options you have for detecting leaks and making your home more energy efficient.
The Impact of Air Leaks on Home Energy Efficiency
According to the US Department of Energy, air leaks are typically the biggest source of heat loss and heat gain in most homes. That also means they are generally the biggest contributors to energy waste. In many cases, poorly sealed windows and doors can result in at least 30% of the energy that goes into heating and cooling a home being wasted.
In the summer, leaks result in large amounts of heat coming inside and greatly increasing the air conditioning system’s workload. Leaky doors and windows can be an even bigger issue during the winter, as they both allow lots of heat to escape and cold outdoor air to seep inside the house. That means your heating bills will also be much higher due to your heating need to run much more.
This is where resealing your windows and doors can be extremely beneficial by helping to trap heat inside during the winter and keep heat out during the summer. If you have an older home, you may also greatly benefit from having air leaks in the exterior structure sealed up.
How to Check for Leaky Doors and Windows
There are a few different ways that you can easily check whether or not your windows and doors are properly sealed. One thing to do is just check the caulking or sealant around the interior and exterior of each window and door frame. If the caulk is cracked or pieces of it are missing, it’s a sure sign the frame should be resealed.
You will also want to check the rubber weather strip underneath each window and along the sides and bottom of your exterior doors to make sure it’s not cracked or missing. Another thing to check for is if you can see light shining in around any part of an exterior door, as this also indicates the weather stripping should be replaced.
One of the easiest ways to detect air leaks around windows and doors is to just use your hand to feel around the frame during the winter. If you can feel any spots where cold air is coming in, it also means the frame needs to be resealed.
How Professionals Check for Air Leaks
While you can usually detect major drafts or air leaks fairly easily on your own, the best option is to have an HVAC company that offers energy efficiency testing and services to perform what’s known as a blower door test. A blower door is a special panel that goes inside the opening of an exterior door frame and is then fully sealed so that the opening is airtight. Near the bottom of the panel is a powerful industrial fan that’s positioned so that it creates negative air pressure in the house by sucking all of the indoor air outside. There’s also an air pressure gauge on the panel that the technician uses to measure how much negative pressure the fan is creating.
If the house is sufficiently sealed, the pressure created by the fan should be quite high. Lower than normal pressure indicates that the house has at least some air leaks. The reason the fan can’t achieve the correct level of pressure if the house is leaky is that the negative pressure the fan creates causes air to get pulled in from outside through all of the leaky spots. Based on the pressure reading, the technician can easily determine the percentage of air leaks the house has.
When performing a blower door test, the technician can also easily identify the exact location of all of the leaks. This is usually done by walking through each room with a non-toxic smoke pencil. The smoke coming off the pencil will normally just float straight up. If the smoke moves sideways, it indicates that air is getting pulled in from outside somewhere in that area. The technician will then make a note of all the places where air is leaking in from outside. That way you’ll know which windows, doors and other places in the structure need to be sealed to make your home more energy efficient.
Benefits of a Professional Home Energy Audit
Issues like a lack of sufficient insulation in the attic floor and exterior walls also contribute to lower energy efficiency and aren’t something that can be detected with a blower door test. This is why the best option for determining how efficient your home is and finding ways you can improve its efficiency is with a home energy audit.
One part of a home energy audit is performing a blower door test, but the technician will also perform additional tests and check a wide variety of other things. For instance, they can use thermal imaging to identify hot and cold spots in the exterior structure that indicate a lack of insulation. They’ll also inspect your doors and windows to see how well insulated they are and may recommend replacing some or all of them.
Inspecting the ductwork system is crucial as well since duct leaks or uninsulated ducts in certain parts of the home can result in the HVAC system wasting a large amount of energy. Another key step is checking if the roof has sufficient ventilation. A poorly ventilated roof is one of the biggest issues in terms of high cooling bills. This because it results in the attic getting extremely hot during the summer and the entire house heating up faster.
At the end of the audit, the technician will provide you with a score from 1 to 10 that tells you how efficient your home is. They’ll also give you a full list of all of the issues that are contributing to energy waste and poor efficiency along with recommendations on ways you can fix all of the issues to make your home more efficient.
Contact Us Today
If you’re concerned about air leaks or poor efficiency, Environmental Heating & Air Solutions is ready to help. We offer blower door testing and full home energy efficiency testing and audits and can also help with your air sealing and insulation needs. Our team has years of experience and can ensure that your HVAC system and the rest of your house are as energy efficient as possible. We also offer expert heating, cooling, indoor air quality and plumbing services for residents in Benicia, Roseville and throughout Northern California.
To schedule a home energy audit and learn all about the ways we can help make your home more efficient, contact us today.
