Weather Stripping Challenge To Lower Your AC Bills
What Is Weather Stripping?
Stripping is used to seal off spaces between windows, doors, and it’s for cracks as well. The stripping can be made soft or sturdy, and it’s able to keep out drafts that are allowing your home to lose the warm or cool air that you put into it by turning on your HVAC unit.
Stripping can be a low-cost alternative to putting in a new window or extra insulation into the home, but stripping is only valuable and useful if there is no major damage to the space that the stripping is being put onto.
If a window or door has major damage to it that has caused a large space, then adding stripping is not going to help, especially if the door or window needs to be replaced, or the wall holding up the door or window needs to be fixed.
Stripping is simply to seal up small spaces that are letting in drafts, and stripping can be inserted into the sides of a window, the sides of a door, at the bottom of a door, and in other places. Here are some great benefits that you’ll get if you choose to add stripping to your home:
Keep the Home Warm or Cool
- Keep out drafts
- Save on heating/cooling costs
- Each room can maintain its own temperature
- Low-cost way of improving home
- Home will stay cool or warm longer when HVAC unit is on
- Keep bugs from coming through cracks in door/window
- Get rid of spaces underneath doors as well
How Can Using Weather Strips Save On Heating/Cooling Costs?
When you turn on the HVAC unit you have in your home to heat the home or even to cool it, then the air should stay in the room to keep it cool or warm. The only time the unit will turn off is once it reaches a temperature that you’ve set for the room, but sometimes, this can be affected by spaces or cracks that are found around the windows or doors, which allows air to escape. If a room is trying to heat up when the HVAC unit is on but the air is constantly escaping, then the temperature of the room will be slower to rise, which keeps your HVAC unit on longer than it needs to be.
Allowing your HVAC unit to run for such long periods of time when it’s not necessary means that you’re paying more money on heating and cooling costs when you don’t need to. Using stripping to close up the spaces that are letting air escape is a great way to help with your heating and cooling costs, and it’s a lot cheaper than deciding to get new windows or doors for the home, especially of the home is a lot older and has many spaces where drafts come through.
Once stripping is added to the right places and caulk is used to seal up other spaces, then you’ll be surprised at how much more money you’ll save on heating and cooling costs, which some people have seen 30% or more savings over time.
Where Can The Stripping Be Purchased?
Purchasing stripping is easy enough, but there are so many kinds that you’ll have to know exactly what type you need and where it can be purchased. It’s a good idea to contact an HVAC specialist for some help, especially since they’ll know exactly what type of stripping would be best for your home and can advise you, especially if you’re on a budget.
Those who want to spend very little can still get stripping, but those who are willing to go all out and spend whatever is necessary to add weather stripping to their home may go for the more costly stripping, such as metal, thresholds, interlocking metal channels, fin seal, a door shoe, reinforced silicone, rubber and more. With all the types of stripping that can be chosen, it’s a matter of looks, cost, and fit if you choose to buy one type over another.
Many will choose rubber stripping for the sides of their window because it’s a great way to keep out drafts, and it’s unlikely to move whenever the window is open. Typical stripping that is used in homes are made of foam, and they can range from thick thin and can be used wherever they are needed. Again, it’s always wise to get advice when you want stripping put into your home, especially since there are a lot to choose from.
How Long Does The Stripping Last?
If the right stripping is chosen, it can last for years, but those who choose stripping that can easily move around or doesn’t fit in a place properly may end up replacing the stripping within a matter of months as opposed to years.
It’s important to get good advice when you choose to add stripping to your home because if it’s done incorrectly, then it only ends up costing you more money later on, instead of saving you money, which is the entire point of installing weather stripping.
Those who have doors with a lot of space underneath can use a door sweep, which is a great way to keep any types of drafts out of the home, whether it’s the front door, back door, or even a bedroom door. Putting sweeps at the bottom of the door can drastically improve heating and cooling costs, especially for rooms that would easily cool down or heat up once the HVAC unit is turned off.
Advice From Your HVAC Specialist
You should have an HVAC specialist come out to your home every year to check on your unit and to do maintenance, and that’s the best time to ask questions about whether stripping, especially if you want to know the exact type to buy, how much to spend, and the best place to put the stripping.
Allow an HVAC specialist from Affordable American Air Conditioning & Heating in the Woodlands, TX area by calling (281) 872-6263 to service your home.