The hottest days of the summer are upon us, and that likely means your air cooling unit is working hard. But do you know if it is working efficiently? It can be incredibly expensive to run an inefficient cooling unit in this heat. The chances are that there is a leak somewhere in the house, and that leak is costing you money. And if you believe you have an air leak—there is likely an air leak at the doors or windows—and would like to seal the house of from air loss, here the likely places to find a leak, and the way to fix it.
The first place to start a search is at the windows. And an air leak at a window is oftentimes easy to find. When the temperatures rise, run your hand along the edge of the window and feel for cold spots. Unfortunately, even the most efficient windows are not immune to an air leak. The problem isn’t always the window itself, but instead the leak happened because the house has shifted over time and the window is no longer perfectly fit in its opening. So anywhere you find a leak, it’s a simple and economical fix to buy a tube of interior caulking and cover the gap.
Exterior doors are another common place to experience a leak. If you see sunlight beneath a door, then you have a leak. It’s literally that simple. And a door leak can be fixed in many ways, although one of the simplest is to replace the weather stripping around the door. But if new weather stripping isn’t the answer, you can also go further and adjust or replace the sweep beneath the door. If the sweep is adjustable, turn its screws until it comes into a more level position beneath the door. If you adjust the door too far, there will be friction, and you should back off the screws until the door swings smoothly.
And if you have any questions about how to make your HVAC system more efficient, or would like to speak with the HVAC professionals at R and T Services about a new, efficient system, then call today.
