Air Sealing

Did you know that air leaks account for ​​between 25-40% of the energy used for heating and cooling in a typical home? Many Suffolk County homeowners are literally throwing money out the window—even though most holes, cracks, and gaps in your home’s exterior are 100% preventable. In fact, when properly installed, air sealing and upgraded insulation can reduce energy bills by 30-50%!

Home Efficiency Experts offers expert home air sealing and insulation services throughout Long Island that help homeowners save money, reduce indoor drafts, improve indoor comfort, and more.

How Air Leaks Lead to Energy Loss

In some cases, air leaks in your home can be seen with the naked eye around door frames and windows. Unfortunately, the average home’s air leakage takes place in areas you don’t see—like in your home’s crawl space or attic.

The cumulative effect of these leaks is explained by something called the stack effect, or chimney effect. In the winter, cold air infiltrates your crawl space or basement through leaks and gaps and begins to rise. That airflow begins to push the heated air through the floors and walls of your home into your attic and other areas with poor insulation and gaps. The stack effect then causes the comfortable air to escape, creating more wear and tear on your HVAC system and high energy bills.

In the summer, the stack effect is reversed, with hot outdoor air entering through your attic and pushing cooler indoor air out of the bottom of your home. But, by properly air sealing your house, the team at Home Efficiency Experts can reduce the stack effect or chimney effect, working from the basement to the attic, sealing drafty walls and improving home insulation—thus making your home more energy efficient. 

The Benefits of Air Sealing

Air sealing can help stop the stack effect from occurring in your home—but it has many other benefits as well, including:

• Improved indoor air quality – Air sealing your home allows for more control over its humidity and levels—which can commonly lead to mildew and mold growth. It also prevents contaminants like dust and pollen from entering your home in the same way it keeps out unwanted, unconditioned air. Air sealing also closes off the point of entry for pests like mice and insects, which can also contribute to poor air quality.
• Stronger home structure & foundation – Excess amounts of moisture in your home’s crawl space or attic can lead to wood rot and structural damage. Air sealing helps keep the moisture from entering and accumulating in these vulnerable areas.
• More home comfort – Say goodbye to drafty rooms every winter and stuffy summers with air sealing! Since you’ll have better control over the airflow in your home, you’ll see more consistent temperatures.
• Improved HVAC & heat pump efficiency – Air sealing takes unnecessary wear and tear off of your HVAC system and can be especially beneficial if you own a heat pump. When your furnace, air conditioner, or heat pump are running at optimized performance levels, you’ll see lower energy bills year round.

Air sealing is just as important as insulation—in fact, the two services work best when they are combined. While insulation creates a barrier between the living spaces of your home and the outdoors, air sealing works to prevent unwanted air from coming in as well as keeping your conditioned air inside of your home.

Energy Efficiency Starts With an Energy Assessment

With your results, we’ll provide you with a list of recommendations to help you save energy and improve your home’s performance. In addition to air sealing, some of the retrofit work that we commonly recommend include:

• Insulation upgrades
• Duct sealing
• Ductless mini split heat pumps
• And more

Once you make a decision on what services you want to move forward with, our team will help you find rebates and incentives to help you maximize your savings! As a leading air sealing contractor in Long Island, we also double check our work when the improvements are completed. A free blower-door test at the completion of our insulation and air sealing work is always included to ensure it has made a significant improvement on your home’s energy efficiency.