On average, 15% of the heat in our homes will escape through draughts, around doors, windows, through letterboxes, and up chimneys. That much heat loss means your boiler will have to work harder, increasing your energy bills, and your home will feel colder.
Fortunately, draught proofing is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to increase the energy efficiency and comfort of your home.
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Draught proofing, or draught exclusion, means blocking unwanted gaps in your home through which cold air can get in and heated air escape.
There are surprising numbers of these draughts around our homes, especially in older properties. Cold air sneaks in around gaps around doors, through letterboxes, down chimneys, and even through keyholes. You can block these holes with draught-proofing strips, draught excluders, brushes, sealant, letterbox flaps, and keyhole covers.
You can pay a professional to install all of this, with the entire job costing around £200. But doing it yourself will be cheaper. Draught proofing is easy, and all the materials you need are available from DIY shops. The investment you make in plugging draughts will pay dividends in lower energy bills for years to come.
However, you will need to keep some sources of ventilation so air can circulate throughout your home, keeping you healthy and the property fresh and dry. Never block or seal intentional ventilation, including extractor fans, wall vents, trickle vents in windows, and underfloor grilles or air bricks.
There are no downsides to draught-proofing and plenty of benefits:
If they don’t seal tightly, external doors can be sieving out a lot of warm air and letting in the cold. Here’s how to draught proof them:
Don’t forget the other holes in your external doors.
If you live in an old home with suspended timber floorboards, it’s likely some of your heated air is being siphoned through the cracks. Carpets will limit draughts but it’s still worthwhile sealing the gaps between floorboards. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that filling floorboard gaps can save a household up to £40 per room on their annual energy bills and reduce its total carbon footprint by 110kg.
There are several products on the market to fill the gaps between floorboards:
If you haven’t yet sanded the floorboards, you can hammer wooden lathes between them. And if you’re draught proofing floors under carpet, appearance is less important so you can use gunned sealant or, the traditional method, papier-mâché (old newspaper soaked in wallpaper paste).
And don’t forget the skirting boards. You can apply wooden beadings to block the gap between the skirting board and floor. For added blockage, apply a silicone-based gunned sealant first.
If you haven’t draught proofed your fireplace, you may as well be leaving a window open through the winter. To keep your monthly energy payments from going up in smoke, you can buy a draught excluder, a handy device that fits within the chimney.
Draught excluders run about £15 and can save you up to £20 on your energy bills, paying for themselves within the year. Just remember to remove the excluder before you light a fire.
If you don’t use your fireplace at all, you can also have a cap fitted over the chimney pot. We suggest using a professional to install this.