You can save up to 10% on your energy bill by weatherstripping your home or having a qualified professional seal your home's air leaks.
Older homes tend to be leakier than newer homes. They can suck cold air in through gaps between outside doors and frames, and escaping heat makes the furnace run harder, shortening its life. Weatherstripping seals small gaps, keeping out moisture and minimizing air leaks.
1. To determine whether you have leaks and where they are in your house, try one of the following tests. On a windy day, light a stick of incense and hold it near doors, windows, and the places where your walls meet the ceiling and the floor. If the incense smoke moves, that indicates air leaks. Or, try closing a window or door on a sheet of paper and then pulling the paper out. If the paper doesn't tear when you pull it out of the closed window or door, you are likely losing energy.
2. At a hardware store, buy door sweeps to close spaces under exterior doors, caulk and a caulk gun, tacky rope caulk, or a roll of foam weatherstripping tape to block those drafty spots around window frames. Apply weatherstripping to movable joints.
3. At home, shut doors tight by installing a door sweep, a piece of aluminum trim that attaches to the bottom of the door with a vinyl flap or nylon brush that meets the floor. To install, leave the door in place. Just fit the sweep to the door's base and screw it on.
4. From the roll of foam weatherstripping tape, cut lengths to match your door frame and press the self-adhering tape against the frame for a tight seal. Peel it off in summer.
Important: Be sure to follow the instructions that came with the weatherstripping material you've purchased.
Types of weatherstripping. Weather stripping can be made of plastic, foam, felt or metal.
Check existing weatherstripping. Look around your doors and windows: Is the weather stripping torn or missing? This can become expensive if ignored.
Measure your door's width. Before going to the hardware store, measure your door's width. Typical doors are 30 inches or 36 inches across.
Check the door jamb. On doors, make sure the bottom seal is working properly -- there are many sweeps, gaskets and thresholds designed to seal this gap. Doors generally need weatherstripping in their jambs as well. Adhesive-backed foam pads are easy to install for this purpose.
Get the type of weatherstripping that most closely matches your door. You will likely want your weatherstripping to visually blend in with your door as much as possible. If you can't find a good match at your hardware store, you can check with the door manufacturer or the place where you bought the door for recommendations. Or simply check with door or window repair services for suggestions.
Measure twice before cutting. Be sure to measure your door two more times before you cut the weatherstripping material to make sure the material will fit your door.
Install a door sweep. If you can feel a draft coming from under the door, be sure to install a door sweep. The only exception is when the bottom of the door frame is even with, or below, the floor or carpet.
Replace older windows instead of weatherstripping. If you have older, double-hung windows, you may want to avoid weatherstripping and simply replace the windows because those types of windows can be difficult to weatherstrip.
Seal outside leaks. Outside, seal leaks with weather-resistant caulk. For brick areas, use masonry sealer, which will better stand up to freezing and thawing.