Fall is Here—Is Your House Ready?

Fall is definitely upon us. When I wrote the previous article it was 80 degrees outside. Today it’s a low of 51 degrees. This weekend, we will be back to highs reaching 80 and lows in the 50s. If your home is not properly air sealed or insulated, you could be running both the A/C and heater on the same day.

There are several places in your home that you can look to find out if your home is ready for fall or not. First, start in the attic. The beams that run across the floor of the attic are the ceiling joists. If you can see the tops of them, more than likely you do not have enough insulation.

Next look for a bundle of wires and dig through the insulation to the bottom. If the holes are not filled with foam, chances are there is no air sealing present in the attic. Both allow heat to be gained and lost through the attic.

Next, check your windows and doors. Look for light coming in from gaps around the door and window sashes. Check the condition of the weather stripping around the door opening. If it is cracked or torn, it needs to be replaced. If the door is not properly installed it may take special oversized weather stripping to fill the gaps.  Same thing with the windows. At the top of the top sash and bottom of the bottom sash there is a gasket. Is it dry rotted or cracked? If so, it needs to be replaced or other weather stripping needs to be installed.

In my next entry, I will continue to point out areas of your home that should be checked to find out if your home is ready for the fall. Dealing with any issues you find will be the first step in assuring that your home is a comfortable, healthy and energy efficient place to live. If you're still not sure where to look, have an energy audit performed on your home by a certified energy auditor and all these places will be pointed out to you. Remember, “Don’t throw money at your problems, throw knowledge, it’s a lot cheaper.”