Another very basic action that can reduce your carbon emissions AND your heating bill
Did you know that a lot of heat is probably wasted from your home simply through cracks and gaps?
Yes, some might require lots of work to put right, but often small gaps and cracks can be filled using builders’ caulk. It’s very, very cheap to buy, easily applied, and can make a real and immediate difference.
A simple case is around a window frame … on a cold day, you can really feel it coming through!
Anything we can do to improve the thermal efficiency of our homes must be a good thing!
What to do
You’ll need five things:
- rubber gloves
- cleaning materials to clean the frame up first
- tube of builders’ caulk
- caulking gun
- wet cloth again for finishing
The steps are:
- Clean all around the area you are going to fill, and dry down
- Read the instructions on the caulk (it’s basically an easy-to-use flexible filler)
- Place the caulk tube into the gun, snip off the end, and squeeze the trigger until the caulk flows
- Run a line of caulk along the crack
- Run a wet finger (use the gloves) along the crack to push the caulk in and make a smooth finish
- Repeat if necessary depending on how deep and wide the crack it
- Gently wipe along with a damp cloth to make a neat, smooth finish
- Allow to dry
- Repeat if necessary, as sometimes the caulk will settle in to deeper cracks
Once dry, the caulk can be overpainted. The cheapest caulking is white but you can buy other colours if it helps.
You should only use caulk on the inside of your frames, if you need to fill from the outside too make sure you use a weatherproof tough frame sealant or construction adhesive. These are more expensive than caulk but will make a good weatherproof seal that will last several years.
Why is this important?
Apart from all the obvious benefits to you …
- reduced heating bills
- cosier home with fewer drafts
- your window frames will last longer
… it’s also very important that we save energy by reducing the amount of electricity and gas we use to heat our homes as much as we can. The less energy you use, the smaller your carbon footprint is. Reducing our household carbon footprints is essential if we are to stand any chance of limiting the effects of climate change and global warming.
Take action
Please take a close look and feel around your window frames and other areas of your home where drafts might be coming in. If drafts are coming in, it means heat is getting out!
For just a very small amount of cash, you can stop this happening and save carbon emissions (and cash too!).
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