Q – Now that we have had a couple of cool’ish days I am noticing an uncomfortable draft in my house. I know this may be too early for panic, but what should I do?

Ann – Norcross

A – Did you know that leaks through small cracks around your windows and doors are responsible for 30-40% of the heat that leaks out of your house?

It is a tad bit early to panic about a cold house, but then again, this is probably the perfect time to prepare for the seasons to change. Over the next couple of weeks give your house a once over for cracks and areas where the cooler air will seep in and more importantly, your heat will leak out.

Begin outside by looking at places where two different building materials meet and around every opening in your siding i.e. around water spigots, dryer vents, and places where telephone and cable tv cables enter the house.

Fill all openings and cracks with caulk or expanding insulating foam (I prefer the foam).

Once inside your home, look at the following:

• Check around electrical outlets.  You can get inexpensive foam gaskets to seal every outlet.  Make sure your pull-down attic stairs are sealed as well
• Measure the temperature in different parts of the house.  Differences of a couple of degrees or more indicate that the room is poorly sealed or that air movement inside the house is poor.

If some rooms are cooler than others, your favorite HVAC company can help you zone your house properly to even out the air flow.

• It’s time to weather strip windows, doors, and garage doors.  It’s simple and inexpensive.
• Get your caulk gun out and seal between baseboards and floors.  Remove the base molding and fill in the gap between baseboards and floor.  This will not only stop air leaks, but will help seal out insects as well.
• A great way to really find those openings is to call an insulation company that will offer you a “blower door” test.  This test will immediately let you know where all the cracks and crevices are, many of which you can fix yourself.

The best part about doing this is that the test is generally FREE. Love that word. Let’s use it again. FREE!

One last thing to check – if you have windows in unused parts of the house, think about sealing them for the winter with a shrink wrap. Once installed, shrink wrap is virtually invisible and easy to remove.

The best part of all of this work is that when it does really get cold you will be ahead of the game and you can spend you days doing something els

Get on it now. Thank me later.