Addressing Drafts in the Home

It’s the season of cold and windy weather. This means a common complaint starts to surface from those living in older homes: drafts.

Our Window Geek Anton Van Dyk joined CTV Morning Live to explain how to find the source of cold air drafts and what to do when they are identified. Drafts are air currents that come through the openings of your wall and allow cold air to leak into the home. In newer construction this is referred to as air leakage and in modern times, building codes mitigate the amount of leakage. In older buildings it is more challenging as these codes did not exist previously. This means invisible air leakage currents need to be identified in order to stop them.

Telltale signs of air leakage

Homeowners can check where the base of the wall and the wall meets. If there is carpet in the home, owners may notice a little dark strip where the baseboard meets the wall. The dark strip indicates that there are air currents flowing through this and the carpet is actually acting as a filter. Another test is to wet the back of the hand and go around to known areas where air leakage occurs, such as electrical outlets.

When in doubt, homeowners can enlist the help of an energy advisor. They are able to depressurize the home and calculate the amount of air leakage taking place. They can use infrared cameras or smoke pencils to physically see the air currents through the home.

Homeowners can take some steps to mitigate air leakage themselves:

•  Check weather stripping around doors for damage. Repair or replace if compromised.
•  Attic hatches and electrical outlets can be big culprits for air leakage. They should be properly sealed.

Experts are typically brought in for less obvious leakage areas

These areas generally require a bit of investigation to find the issue. Anton noted that sometimes what costs a couple of dollars in caulking or sealant can take hours of work to fix properly. A contractor should be given the right amount of time to do the job right.

Another factor to keep in mind is that if cold air is leaking into a home than warm air is leaking out. This can equate to steep utility bills. The team at Centra Windows is well versed in energy efficiency and ensuring their customers achieve maximum home comfort.

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For more information on this topic (and many more!) contact our local Employee Owners at 1-888-534-3333 or drop us an email at info@centra.ca. Become a Window Geek yourself by signing up for our biweekly newsletter, which provides news, advice, and tips about the window industry and Centra events.