How To Find Air Leaks In The House

Warm air leaking into your home during summers and out of your home during winters can waste a lot of your money (spent on electricity bill). Living in a drafty house, with rattling windows and cold air seeping in, makes it essential to find and block the various air leaks in your home. Not everyone can afford the high cost of heating and cooling a home, while overlooking air leaks. Save on these heating and cooling bills by reducing the air leaks in your house. The following article will be of utmost help to you in finding the places from where your air conditioning and heat are seeping out and eating up your budget. Go through the following lines to know the different ways on how to find air leaks in the house.

Detecting Air Leaks In Your Home

Looking For The Leaks

Check your carpets, ceilings and insulations for dirty spots. When air enters your home, it often carries dust and dirt along with it. The telltale marks left by it will help you spot out the leaks.
Look for air leaks around your doors and windows, by closing them onto a piece of paper. Pull the paper after closing them and if you are able to pull it off easily, you have a leak to seal.
Large seals can be found at night, by shining a flashlight over the areas you suspect could be leaking air. Get someone to look at your house from outside. If he is able to see the light from outside, it means that there is a leak to be repaired. Using this method, you would not be able to find small leaks, though.

Smoking Out The Leaks

A smoke puffer or a smoke pen can help you find a lot of cracks and gaps that let air leak in and out of your home.
Choose a cool day to check the air leaks, since air travels from warm to cool temperatures. This will enable you to see the places from where the smoke exits your home. Even a windy day is ideal for finding air leaks.
Bring the smoke close to the suspected cracks. The smoke, instead of curling upwards, will flatten out and flow towards the gap.
Another way to blow air out of your house is to shut off the furnace and set on your exhaust fans. Watch the smoke to find air leaks.
The places where you are likely to find air leaks are joints between foundation and walls; attic - where the top sill meets the roof; chimney area; light fixtures on the top floor or on outside walls; old coal chutes, electrical switches and outlets - around plumbing pipes, cable TV and phone lines; outdoor water faucets, flues and vents, air conditioners and fans, mail slots and through cracks in brickwork.

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