Attic Air Leaks Into House

Air leaking into your attic could be costing you money up to 30 of a home s heating and cooling energy is lost due to air leaks.

Attic air leaks into house.

Here s how to find and seal those leaks. Here are some pointers. How to find air leaks. Hole in your ceiling and add a 100 watt bulb enough heat to bake cookies and you have a recipe for huge heat loss as well as a major contributor to ice dams.

Leaking air conditioners can destroy ceilings walls and anything else around it. 1 insulate around recessed lights. If there are ducts in the attic and the return ducts have holes in them attic air can also be sucked into the house through those duct leaks. Here are eight places to start.

Recessed can lights no easy solution cut a 6 in. They must be vented to the outside and not just dump into the attic. Hidden air leaks cause some of the largest heat losses in older homes. Most recessed lights have vents that open into the attic a direct route for heated or cooled air to escape.

If you pressurize the house with a window fan you may be able to feel the leaks with your hand as the air finds its way into the attic. While these powered vents do effectively draw out the heat they will pull more cool air from any air leaks in the ceiling of the house read. Vent humid air from kitchens and bathrooms to the outside instead of the attic to avoid this problem. If you find an air conditioning leak address the issue immediately before you have a real problem on your hand.

With these systems condensate leaks can lead to a big mess but it s nothing compared to a condensate leak that occurs at an air conditioner in an attic or really any place that has finished. Then tackle the basement to prevent cold air that enters there from being sucked into upstairs rooms. This causes moisture issues when they run. In the average home small openings in the outer shell of a house account for almost 30 of total heat lost.

If you notice water under your indoor air handler turn off the air conditioner at the breaker box and either call a professional or follow these. Find and seal air leaks. Most are installed incorrectly don t work properly leak air and let hot air into your house. From below your attic check the ceilings and note the locations of all light fixtures ceiling fans and electrical outlets.

See image 2 below which shows an unsealed return plenum in an attic. Your home s central air conditioning than soffit. Depending on the way your house was framed a lot of warm air can escape into the attic through the partition. Finally seal air leaks in the rest of the house.