One invisible leak is enough to leave you cold

Freezing cold drafts around your feet, sitting under blankets just to stay warm and a higher energy bill to boot are not unusual in Australian homes.

Drafts are created when hot air rises and escapes through all those gaps in your windows, walls, roof and other places. What fills that void is the unfiltered and unconditioned air from outside. But what can you do?

The first thing is find the gaps where your home is leaking air so that you can block them. Some of the gaps are obvious, like the gap under your front door. Although you may have a carpet snake placed there to try and stop some of the draft coming through, it’s only going to be partially effective. You could also use sealant around your windows. You might find a few of the larger leaks, but unfortunately there are usually tiny leaks where the window is mounted that you can’t see and gaps behind walls where you can’t reach.

Just one invisible leak is enough to cause a difference between the internal pressure of your home and the external pressure. The air will try and equalise this pressure difference by forcing itself through any gap it can find, pushing out the warm air. Even small leaks can force your heater to work significantly harder to keep an area warm.

It’s important you seek advice as simply sealing everything may create more problems than it fixes, as a home does need some air movement through it.