How to Combat a Drafty House This Winter

Older homes are notorious for being drafty, but guess what? Lots of newer homes are drafty too. So whether you have a new or an old home, what's a beleaguered homeowner to do? You're tired of trying to heat your home in winter, knowing the warm air just rises up to the ceiling and seems to be lost in space while your home's occupants shiver at ground level. 

There are some solutions for a drafty house, but be advised, it's not necessarily an easy or cheap fix. Nevertheless, let's take a look at what you might be able to do. 

Why Do I Have a Drafty House?

Quite often, a house is drafty because of minute cracks around window and door frames, at baseboards, around an attic hatch, and because of holes in exterior walls for pipes, wires, and cables. These holes contribute to draftiness but aren't the main culprit. 

As warm air rises, it creates a vacuum and pulls in cold air from the outdoors through the cracks we just mentioned. The warm air is forced upward, where it might heat up a second story, making it stuffy and uncomfortable, and then travel farther into the attic, where it is lost to your efforts to heat your home. 

While air-sealing those cracks with insulation, caulk, and weatherstripping will help diminish the draftiness of your home, it's not the only remedy.

You also need to insulate the attic to stop those warm-air losses. Furthermore, you may also need to add insulation around the foundation of your home. 

Insulating the Attic and Foundation to Prevent a Drafty House

You should bring the R-value of the insulation in your attic up to about 49 — the R-value being a measure of how effective your insulation is at stopping heat transfer. R-49 translates to as much as 15 inches of insulation on the floor of your attic.

You may also need to hire a professional to air-seal and insulate with two-part foam or foam board and apply sealant to the wooden panel where your foundation meets the rest of the house.

For more on fixing your drafty house, contact Air Assurance of Broken Arrow. 

School's Out: Changing Your HVAC Schedule

You always want your children to be comfortable. Since kids will be spending more time at home in the summer, you'll need to take the necessary steps to keep your home cool enough for your little ones. Here are some useful tips on how to adjust your home's HVAC schedule accordingly.

When at Home

When your kids are at home, it's best to set your thermostat to 78 degrees. This will not only keep them comfortable but also save you money. You can make your home's cooling system more effective by taking the following steps.

• Invest in a dehumidifier.

• Replace worn weatherstripping and caulk around your windows and doors to keep your house sealed.

• Install window treatments to block out the sun's rays.

• Set ceiling fans to spin counterclockwise.

When Nobody's Home

Whether you're taking your children to soccer, for a walk in the park, or going on a bike ride, you should alter your home's temperature settings when everyone's away. Turn your thermostat up to 85 to 88 degrees to keep your home warmer than usual.If you have a standard thermostat, you'll have to manually adjust the temperature each time you and your kids are leaving the house. With a programmable thermostat, you can program a different cooling schedule for a specific time of the day or each day of the week, depending on your family's schedule. You simply set it and forget it. Be sure to follow these programming timing tips when using a programmable thermostat:

• Reset the thermostat to 78 degrees 30 minutes before returning home.

• Reduce cooling an hour before going to bed each night.

• Increase the cooling about 30 minutes before your wake up time.

Adopting the HVAC schedule above will keep your entire family comfortable and your cooling bills lower. For more home comfort and energy efficiency tips, contact the experts at Air Assurance. For more than 30 years, we've helped homeowners in the Broken Arrow area with their HVAC needs and won numerous awards for our exceptional services.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

How to Remedy Heat Loss in Your Home

Heat loss in your home can put unnecessary strain on your heating system and cause your heating bills to skyrocket. Therefore, as you look for ways to make your home comfortable during the cooler months, don't forget these simple ways to prevent your home from losing heat.

Insulate Your Attic

Your home can lose a significant amount of heat through the attic because hot air tends to rise. Insulating the attic helps trap your home's heated air. Inspect your attic and evaluate the quality, amount and condition of its insulation. Replace the insulation if it is moldy or mildewed. Ensure the attic floor has the recommended amount of insulation. An HVAC contractor can help you evaluate the quality and quantity of your current attic insulation.

Seal Attic Air Leaks

You should also survey the attic for air leaks. Typically, air leaks occur around attic hatches, stairs, stairwells, fans, ceiling junction boxes and holes that accommodate ductwork, pipes and vents. Seal these leaks with caulk, weatherstripping or foam spray.

Caulk Ceiling Trouble Spots

Your home can lose heat through ceiling fixtures and wall-ceiling junctures. Make sure you caulk any gaps and cracks in these trouble spots.

Get Energy-Efficient Windows

Windows are major sources of heat loss. If you have single-pane windows, consider adding storm panels to reduce the amount of heat lost through them. Alternatively, replace them with energy-efficient double-pane windows.

Seal Up Window and Door Frames

Interior heat can escape your home through gaps found on your window and door frames. Check for gaps between exterior frames and your home's siding. Check the condition of the weatherstripping around all your windows and doors. Seal any cracks or gaps with caulk. Replace any damaged weatherstripping.

Seal Electrical Outlets

Heat loss can also occur through electrical outlets. Install pre-sized foam gaskets behind them to prevent that.

By preventing your house from losing heat, you'll maximize the efficiency of your heating system and save money. For more information on heat loss, contact us at Air Assurance. We serve the Broken Arrow area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).Credit/Copyright Attribution: “tassel78/Shutterstock”

How to Improve the Energy Efficiency of Existing Windows

Most homeowners spend plenty of time looking out of their windows, but when was the last time you ever looked at yours? A quick inspection could reveal problem areas that are causing you to lose out on energy dollars every single month. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to improve the energy efficiency of existing windows. Take a look at these tips for both quick fixes and long term solutions and start saving today.

For Drafts

Have you noticed a draft coming in through your doors and windows? Even seemingly small cracks and gaps can significantly reduce the energy efficiency of your home, cause issues with discomfort and allow precipitation or dust to find its way inside. To remedy these issues you can try:

• Rope caulk can be picked up at your local home improvement store and molded into any crack in a matter of minutes.

• Plastic V-Seal weather strips are easy to install and are an affordable means of eliminating air leaks while maintaining window operability.

• Shrink film is a great way to create a drum-tight seal during the colder months that will stop drafts and improve window energy efficiency.

• A permanent solution to deterring drafts is to remove your existing panes and apply a new layer of putty and glazing. This will better secure the panes and get rid of gaps that cause you to throw money out the window.

For Heat Loss/Gain

Heat is able to enter and leave your home even through shut windows. The simplest way to fix this is by installing insulated curtains. These attractive drapes feature a thick layer of high-density foam which prevents heat from passing through and keeps your home at a comfortable and energy-efficient temperature.

For more tips and tricks on how to improve the energy efficiency of existing windows, feel free to get in touch with the experts at Air Assurance. We've been servicing the greater Tulsa area since 1985.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “My-Portfolio/Shutterstock”

Fall Furnace Inspection: Highly Recommended for Your Tulsa Home

Broken Arrow will soon see winter weather arriving in force, and if you haven't already scheduled your fall furnace inspection, now is a good time to do it. Your furnace works 24/7 throughout the winter to keep you comfortable, and over time it loses efficiency. Maintaining your furnace will lower your energy bills, increase system safety and efficiency, extend its life and help prevent common problems this winter. 

A comprehensive tune-up by a reputable company should include these key tasks:

• Lubricate the system to prevent damaging friction.

• Clean and inspect the blower assembly, heat exchanger and other essential components.

• Measure the voltage and current on the motor to ensure they meet system specifications.

• Test the burner combustion and gas pressure for safety and efficiency.

• Check for dangerous carbon monoxide leaks.

• Measure the flue gases to ensure they comply with system standards.

• Inspect the ventilation system for proper venting of combustion gases.

• Inspect your ductwork for obstructions and loose joints that can restrict airflow.

• Check your thermostat for accuracy and calibrate it if necessary.

• Inspect the wiring and terminals for corrosion, and apply a nonconductive coating.

Maintaining the efficiency of your system is essential for season-long comfort and savings. These tips will help you lessen the load on your furnace to keep it operating efficiently all winter long:

• Check your furnace's air filter every month. When it's caked with dust, replace it with a good-quality, pleated filter. A dirty filter restricts the air flow to your system and can cause overheating and expensive related damage.

• Reverse the direction of your ceiling fan blades to push warm air down and throughout your rooms, keeping you comfortable at lower thermostat settings.

• Seal around doors and windows with caulk and weatherstripping to keep warm air in and cold air out. The typical home loses up to 20 percent of conditioned air through leaky doors and windows.

If you would like to schedule your furnace inspection with one of our qualified technicians in the Broken Arrow area, please feel free to contact us at Air Assurance Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing.

Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONE/* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). 

Image courtesy of Shutterstock