Those Other Places to Seal and Insulate

Seal And Insulate Home Places

Early in January, we talked about making resolutions to cut your home’s high electricity bills. Home insulation is one of the biggest considerations for home comfort and energy savings. You could hire a professional to insulate your home, but what if you want a DIY solution? Let’s talk about those other places to seal and insulate you might have missed.

Seal Your Attic Door

Insulation plans often miss the attic door. That means that the trap door and ladder set up may be letting heat slip through. You end up spending more on your heating and cooling.

Thankfully it’s an 3-step fix with fiberglass insulation. Fiberglass insulation comes in two forms; faced (which is a paper vapor barrier) and unfaced. For this project, use the faced kind.

1. Cut the batts to overhang the sides. (You may need two pieces of fiberglass to cover larger doors)
2. Place the insulation against the door, fiberglass side facing down. Then staple it in place.
3. Apply adhesive-backed weatherstripping to the door side perimeter closing on the framed opening.

NOTE: Fiberglass batts work best as a single layer on attic doors. Don’t compress it into place since that will reduce its performance.

Insulate Fireplace Walls

Fireplaces make for cozy homes when they’re on. But they can also lead to a lot of problems without proper seals and insulation. Here’s a few tips to make a more energy efficient fireplace.

• Tempered glass doors and a heat-air exchange system can help keep hot air in during the winter and out during the summer.
• Check the seals around the flue-damper. If it isn’t tight, the chimney could be costing you heat.
• Insulate the chimney walls. This helps prevent winter heat loss and summer heat gain. This also protects you home from Creosote buildup, which is a black or brown residue. Creosote is corrosive enough to damage your flue and flammable enough to cause chimney fires.

Air Seal Recessed Lighting

Does your home have lighting built into the ceiling like at a department store, rather than from a chandelier or fan? Then you have recessed lighting. And while recessed lighting makes your rooms feel larger, it can also let warm air get into your attic and leave your home.

So it makes sense to insulate them. But there’s a problem.

Depending on bulb-type, these fixtures can give off a lot of heat as well. So you have to be careful about adding insulation so you can cut down on your high electricity bills without risking fire. But here’s an easy fix.

1. Buy fire-rated recessed light covers for every fixture. As well as a tube or two of firestop sealant.
2. In the attic, clean the surface around each fixture. Then slit the covers to accommodate the cable.
3. Then apply sealant around the cable and along the edges of the cover where it touches the ceiling.
4. Then you can safely apply insulation as normal.

Bonus Tip: LED bulbs are far more energy-efficient than incandescent ones. Just make sure they’re rated for fully enclosed fixtures.

Best Places To Seal And Insulate

There are always ways to cut costs around your home. But some of the best long term savings come with proper sealing and insulation work. If you need ideas, the places above should be a great start to your new year’s savings plans.

You can keep up with the news that affects your bills at https://www.mdenergyratings.com. You can also shop for great plans and find ways to save money on lower electricity rates.