NW JACKSONVILLE Blog

What Are Air Leaks? Improve Your Environment With Air Sealing

Studies have estimated that almost 90% of U.S. homes are considered under-insulated and poorly sealed. This results in significant energy waste and higher monthly costs. When you update deteriorated or damaged materials in your home, you're not only improving safety and comfort. On average, you have the opportunity to save up to 15% on heating and cooling bills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Sealing air leaks and installing insulation with adequate coverage can significantly impact your environment throughout the year. Unfortunately, air sealing practices aren't always a common to-do list item for homeowners when it comes to scheduling home improvements. While these materials may be an "out of sight, out of mind" problem, Koala Insulation of Northwest Jacksonville is dedicated to educating our neighbors and community about the potential benefits in northern Florida.

The Benefit of Air Sealing

There are a variety of gaps, holes, and spaces throughout your home that let in outdoor air and pollutants. By sealing the space with caulk or weather stripping, you can improve the strength of your building envelope. While this kind of air sealing can be a simple DIY project, a local industry expert is often more experienced in locating areas that can be hidden or easily taken for granted.

The most common spaces you need to have air sealed would be around doors and windows. Any opening that connects to the exterior can be a culprit of problematic air leaks, from the basement to the ceiling in your attic.

Improved indoor air quality is one of the most significant advantages your household benefits from with updated air sealing. Sealing off the opening throughout a building helps to reduce the entrance of bacteria, allergens, and other potential outdoor pollutants. Even the most seemingly insignificant gaps can allow insects, small rodents, and other pests to make their way into the house in search of warmth and a hiding place to build their nests. Improved air sealing in the home reduces health risks, heat loss, and higher energy expenses.

Does My Home Need to “Breathe”?

Have you ever heard this common myth: You shouldn’t seal your home “too tightly” because the house needs to be able to “breathe”?

First, we need to make a key distinction: people need to breathe while houses need to ventilate. Quality air sealing throughout the house doesn’t close up your home. Instead, the airflow in a building has a system that largely isn’t influenced when a professional air seals any leaks and cracks in the building envelope. Your home needs to have controlled airflow; this is largely impacted by the HVAC system, air quality devices, and attic or crawl space vents.

You can have what is known as a "leaky" building if you decide to skip out on upgrading your air sealing. The air will flow randomly, which works against the energy system and increases the stress put on your HVAC unit and other appliances. This can allow unwanted heat, moisture, and pollutants to infiltrate the building. In addition to poor indoor air quality and health risks, high moisture content creates a humid environment that encourages mold growth, mildew, and other damage. If you're worried that your home may be closed-off, the building may need an improved ventilation system, not reduced air sealing.

What Are The Dangers of Air Leaks?

We’ve briefly touched on the benefits of better indoor air quality: fewer outdoor pollutants, allergens, and bacteria entering your home. Now, it’s time to break down the other serious problems that can be introduced when your home has air leaks:

• Moisture infiltration
• Pest infestation
• Heat loss
• Higher energy costs

When moisture and water vapor freely enter your home, your health and safety can be at risk. As we mentioned earlier, higher moisture increases humidity and potential mold growth. Excessive moisture can damage wooden structures, insulation, and other materials throughout the house. This humid environment can also attract pests and insults like dust mites or termites.

Air leaks provide the perfect opening for all kinds of other pests to enter your home as well. When given the opportunity, there are a number of detrimental effects that come with letting pests build nests within your home. Poor air sealing is almost like leaving a door or window wide open for these problems to come right in to make themselves at home.

These leaks don’t just encourage unwanted guests and allow pollutants to enter the house, though. It also allows conditioned air and heat to escape from those same cracks, holes, and gaps. Your HVAC system in turn needs to run more often to replace the escaped air. In addition to hiking up your energy costs, this can also potentially increase your maintenance needs to fix an overworked unit.

Lowering Costs With Better Air Sealing

As two sides of the same home improvement coin, insulation and air sealing work together to improve your environment. In many cases, they need each other to work to their fullest potential. The primary function of your home's insulation is to reduce heat transfer, which is the rate at which heat moves throughout a building. If you have poor air sealing, the insulation isn't as effective in improving climate control. Openings also put the material at risk of being damaged by moisture and pests. While air sealing helps reduce air leaks, poor coverage and improperly installed insulation allow heat to move through the walls, floors, and ceiling, rendering the sealing less useful.

Updated insulation and air sealing help to save exponentially on monthly costs. Your HVAC system is likely to work less in order to maintain the desired temperature. The updated material blocks unwanted heat from entering in the summer and traps in warmth during the winter. This improved temperature regulation means you're less likely to have one room or side of the house that's too cold or hot.

Improve Your Environment With Northwest Jacksonville Experts

It's important to remember that not every home has the same needs; your climate zone, building requirements, and even regular weather patterns are all variables that affect the house's insulation and air sealing needs. Finding an insulation team that's experienced in prioritizing these differences is crucial to achieving a quality job.

Koala Insulation of Northwest Jacksonville provides free evaluations to determine the current condition of your home’s insulation and air sealing. With this detailed breakdown, we can help you and your household prioritize hidden spaces or poor coverage while also taking into consideration your schedule and budget. We offer cost-effective services and environmentally friendly products in order to help our communities maintain energy-efficient homes. Contact your local experts at Koala Insulation of Northwest Jacksonville today to schedule a free evaluation.