Stop the Intruders: Seal Your Envelope

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It’s the perfect time to seal the envelope—your home’s envelope. Your home is your own space, so you should be able to control what comes in and out of it. You wouldn’t want strangers walking in and out, taking your food and clothes, would you? Sealing your home’s envelope will not necessarily fix a problem like that, but it will give you control over your comfort. You can regulate airflow and maintain a comfortable temperature. Outside air will not sneak in to steal your air conditioning or your heat.

Your walls, your doors, your windows, your basement, and your attic all compose your building envelope. With all of these possible leakage sources, it’s important to tighten your home as a single unit. To effectively seal your home, take every aspect of the envelope into consideration, not just a leaky door or a drafty basement.

To begin the sealing, get an energy audit. Audits will tell you where your leaks are, and then help decide how to seal them. At Dolphin, we use special equipment, such as a blower door, to pinpoint where to seal. Energy assessments are non-invasive and give accurate feedback for your home’s problem spots.

Common air leakage sites that an audit may find in your home include:

  • the door to your attic
  • your fireplace and chimney
  • recessed lights and fans
  • electrical outlets
  • door and window frames.

The sealing process is simple when you leave it to us, and you will feel an immediate improvement in your home’s temperature. With an air sealed home, your home’s envelope is well on its way to tightly sealed.

The next step is to take a look at where to insulate. Insulation plays a major factor in sealing your home. It is a thermal barrier that keeps the outdoor temperature outside where it belongs. Because insulating your home requires adding insulation to the structure, it is best to leave this to the professionals. A couple main insulation sites include your attic and your basement. Attic insulation is a fairly simple process with huge results. For most homes, we recommend starting with attic insulation to best seal your home.

Roughly a quarter of a home’s heat loss occurs through windows and doors. Some windows and doors need to be replaced, while others simply need some fixing up. Back to the air sealing, there are many different ways to seal your doors and windows. The blower door test effectively finds exactly where we need to seal. Targeting these problem sites contributes substantially to the overall home sealing.

When you decide to seal your home, you need to seal the entire home. This process is one that best functions as a whole, so now you know each part. Step-by-step, you can seal your home off from any unwanted visitors who steal your home’s comfort. Start with an audit, move to air sealing and insulating, and then it’s time to tackle the windows and doors. Reclaim your home as your own space: contact Dolphin.