As a follow up to last month’s Blog Post, we continue with the winter theme and expand on the ways of keeping your home free from draught.
Draughts can come in all directions and by draught-proofing your home, you are diminishing these cold air currents.
With power bills on the rise, one of the first things we should all be doing this winter is look for ways of reducing our heating costs while saving ourselves some money in the process.
Draught-proofing is the simplest method to protecting your property from the cold weather. It is also a common problem found with Australian homes, especially older buildings. To draught-proof your home, you should block up any gaps and leaks that let the cold air in. Saving the warm air in your home means you’ll use less energy to heat your home, which in affect will save you money and make your home more energy efficient.
Where To Start?
Trying to find and eliminate those cold draughts might at first sound like a difficult task. You can buy thermal heat detectors which will tell you where the draughts are, but unless you want to spend money, there are free alternatives which do the same job. A quick an easy way is with the use of a tea-light candle or an incense stick.
Finding Draughts
Here are some helpful tips to help you seek out those draughts from your home.
- Look out for any obvious gaps (usually found around door and window frames).
- If you are feeling the cold air, try to locate the breeze by feeling around windows, doors, fireplaces, vents, walls or any exposed floorboards and skirting boards.
- Look and listen for windows or doors which rattle in the wind.
Whilst holding the candle, run it slowly along the bottom of a door or inside ledge of a window. When the candle flickers, you’ll understand where exactly the draught is coming from and where exactly you’ll need to add your seal to close off the draught. This process also works well with an incense stick. Simply light the stick and watch where the vacuum of smoke is pulled through from.
Important!
If you have any internal gas appliances, e.g. a flueless gas heater, be aware that certain ventilation is required to expel any combustable products from the home.
If you have decided to undertake any draught sealing in your home and you have internal gas appliances, you should seek a licensed gas fitter to check the safe operation of the appliances before usage.
What Draught Seals Should I Use?
With so many types of draught seals on the market, it can make it confusing when knowing what seals might work best for your draught. From rubber, felt, velcro, foam and self adhesive seal strips to brush door seals there is no end to what you may choose. However, if in doubt – always seek advice before making any purchases.
Still not sure what to choose? Hire A Hubby can help make that choice for you. With our professional expertise, our handymen will have the draughts located and sealed in no time. Give us a call.
Doors & Windows
Most draughts actually happen between gaps at the front and back door of your home. They are less likely to happen with modern external doors and more prone to happen with older doors. To stop these draughts, you can buy either a brush or hinged flap draught excluder. Any gaps you find around the edges of your doors, fit them with foam, brush or wiper strips. Also, if you don’t have one already, you can purchase a purpose-made cover for your keyhole to stop draughts getting in that way.
If you have any internal doors to rooms which you don’t usually heat, you may want to keep them closed. If there are gaps at the bottom of the door, fit it with a draught excluder. You want to trap as much of the warm circulating air so you don’t lose energy.
Door snakes are a cheap alternative and a good temporary use for draughts – especially when used on tiled or hardwood flooring.
Check your external and internal window seals are in good working condition. With your windows closed, the seals should be pushed hard against each other.
If you find you have a window draught, then buy draught-proofing strips for your windows. You can buy self-adhesive foam strips but they don’t usually last as long as metal or plastic strips with brushes. Make sure you have them cut to size to fill any gaps between frames. Any windows in your property that don’t open, you can use a silicone sealant for extra measure.
If you do need to replace your windows, always consider energy efficient windows as a long term and cost efficient option. Double Glazing has the added benefit of trapping the warm air inside during the winter and also stopping the heat from entering during the summer months.
Skirting & Flooring
Skirting and floorboards are often in motion with everyday use. As a result, they can let in unexpected draughts. To seal these draughts and to allow movement, you should consider using a silicone based filler. Fill any blocks or cracks by squirting filler into these gaps. Just make sure to wipe off any excess filler before it dries.
Hire A Hubby
These are just some of our basic tips to help alleviate draughts and improve the warmth of your home. You should always seek professional advice, especially if you struggle with DIY work or other situations have arisen including mould or dampness in your home.
All our Hubbies:
- Offer 100% Workmanship Guarantee.
- Come Police Checked.
- Have Public Liability Insurance.
- Carry Photo ID.
- Are Work Health Safety Certified.
- And Licensed (where applicable).
Give Hire A Hubby a call today!
