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"Caulk intended to provide an effective seal but last only one season is available in several forms," said Bruce Snead, extension specialist in residential energy at Kansas State University.
This kind of product commonly is used inside where weatherstripping may be difficult or impossible to apply. Typical locations include windows, basement windows, vents, or other joints where operability or air motion during some time of the year is desired.
"The lowest cost temporary caulk is rope caulk, an old product which comes in a roll and is pressed into the joint or crack," Snead said.
Rope caulk is gray and will dry and crack over the course of a winter.
The next group of products is usually clear caulks or gels which come in regular 11 ounce caulking cartridges, clear squeeze bottles or pressurized cartridges. These temporary sealants have names like Seal and Peel, Liquid Weatherstrip, and Touch and Peel. They are designed for use on windows and sliding glass doors.
"Surfaces to be caulked must be clean, dry and warmer than 40 degrees Fahrenheit," Snead said.
Setting time for these materials is 24 to 48 hours. Once set,
the products can be removed from the joint by peeling the strip.
"The last, and probably least desirable, choice for
temporary sealing is tape," Snead said.
Clear, duct or masking tape can be used. It is very economical, but will probably remove paint or varnish when peeled off, and shrink from heat and dryness over the course of the winter.
"Do not seal any windows that may be needed for escape in the event of a fire," Snead said.
"Pianos and organs can generally tolerate just about any temperature or humidity condition," said Gene Meyer, extension mechanical engineer in small business energy at Kansas State university.
What affects them is frequent or severe changes in temperature and humidity.
Not heating your sanctuary may affect the tune and general conditions of these musical instruments. One approach that has received some success is to cover the piano or organ with an electric blanket.
The control for the blanket can be located inside the piano so you can maintain a constant temperature. This allows you to turn the rest of the building down while keeping the piano warm.
You may want to consider installing an in-room humidifier to stabilize humidity conditions in the sanctuary. Humidity levels must be adjusted to compensate for varying outside temperatures.
Entrances that have a pair of doors that close against each another may allow significant air infiltration. The doors should be properly weather-stripped, particularly if the entrance does not have a vestibule.
"Doors with a common mullion, which is the vertical bar between the double doors against which both doors close, can be weather-stripped much like a standard single door," said Richard B. Hayter director of Engineering Extension at Kansas State University..
Typically, weatherstripping is attached to the door frame, including the header, using such materials as spring bronze, stainless steel, or aluminum; vinyl gasket; or fabric, rubber or plastic sponge. The door sill usually is sealed by attaching weatherstripping to the door bottom. Again, you can use spring metal materials as well as neoprene or felt strips.
"Also available are mechanical sill closures which are spring-mounted so they snap closed when the door is closed and spring free when the door is opened," Hayter said.
Thresholds also are available which contain a neoprene insert that seals against the door bottom upon closing.
Doors without a common mullion must be treated differently.
"Vertical molding, called an astragal, is attached to the meeting edge of one or both doors," Hayter said.
An overlapping astragal is a vertical rigid molding attached to the meeting edge of one door that overlaps the other door when they are closed.
"Although this type of molding can provide an excellent seal, the doors must close in the proper sequence or they will stand ajar," Hayter said.
Mechanical overlapping astragals are available which are spring-loaded to allow either door to close first.
"An alternative to overlapping astragals is the split astragal," Hayter said.
These devices are similar to the standard weatherstripping. Spring metal, neoprene gasket or other weatherstripping material is attached to the meeting edge of one door and seals against the other.
Hardware is also available which uses a vinyl molding attached to the surface of the door and extends beyond the edge, mating with a similar molding on the adjacent door.
"These moldings may contain a magnetic insert, creating an even tighter seal," Hayter said.
Regardless of the weatherstripping used, you must install it properly. If the seal is not tight, the weatherstripping will not provide adequate protection.
"Most weatherstripping will wear with time and must be replaced," Hayter said. Routine preventive maintenance should include inspection of the weatherstripping.
"The need to humidify a home in winter depends on the tightness of the structure and the amount of moisture added through normal household activities," said Doug Walter, extension specialist in residential energy at Kansas State University.
To a great extent this is determined by the age of the house and the lifestyles of the occupants.
Air flowing in and out of a house is the primary way moisture is removed. A tight house will have a higher humidity level than a leaky house," Walter said.
High humidity levels also will be found in a house with a lot of moisture sources. These would include people, pets, houseplants, a damp basement or crawl space, unvented combustion appliances, and clothes dryers vented to the inside. In either case — a tight house or a house with lots of moisture sources — excess humidity may result, requiring controlled ventilation with exhaust fans to remove moisture.
"Ideal health and comfort result when the indoor relative humidity is between 30 and 50 percent," Walter said.
Lower humidities, however, may have to be maintained during extremely cold periods to prevent condensation on windows and possible structural damage inside walls.
"Many homes today will not require a humidifier to maintain desired humidity levels," Walter said.
Yes.
"Pool covers can play a significant role in reducing pool energy use," said Gene Meyer, extension mechanical engineer in small business energy at Kansas State University.
Even though air temperatures in most indoor pools are two to three degrees warmer than the water temperature, there is significant heat loss from the pool surface caused by the evaporation.
A pool cover reduces this evaporation rate considerably. Because this evaporation is the main way pools lose heat, covering the pool can save considerable energy.
Pool covers can also be quite expensive, however.
"You need to evaluate the potential for saving energy by using a pool cover and compare it with the cost of the cover," Meyer said "Factors such as maintained pool temperature, air temperature and relative humidity, and fuel costs all must be factored into the evaluation."
Additional advantages of a pool cover are that it can alleviate excessive humidity problems encountered in some enclosed pools, reduce ventilation requirements, and reduce chemical use.
"The benefits of air tightening a new home are significantly reduced fuel bills and, with proper ventilation, a more comfortable environment for the occupnats," said Bruce Snead, extension specialist in residential energy at Kansas State University.
The places to concentrate air sealing techniques are at the sill plate, around floor joists, at exterior corners and at headers over doors and windows. Other locations where infiltration can be significant include the frames around windows and doors, at the ceiling joints of partitions, around fireplaces and at utility and plumbing penetrations.
"Continuous air and vapor barriers with joints sealed with caulk or tape are appropriate large-scale measures," Snead said.
Tape or caulk the vapor barrier to window frames, electrical boxes, or other penetrations. Expanding foam sealants are excellent for sealing gaps around wiring and plumbing vents through the tops of wall partitions.
"Taping joints in rigid exterior insulating sheathing has been effective at creating an air barrier," Snead said.
Compressible closed-cell foam tapes and gaskets have been used under wall plates and around the edges of sheetrock to make the drywall become an effective air barrier.
As more builders incorporate these cost-effective, air-tightening techniques in their construction process, satisfactory shortcuts and less labor-intensive methods will evolve.
"Caulks, gaskets, tapes and various sheet products or roll materials are not expensive and the added cost is easily returned in utility savings over the first few years of ownership.", Snead said.
Yes. At least two utilities offer time-of-the-day rates for certain classes of commercial customers. Because demand for electricity is lower at night and early morning, utility companies can offer electricity at these times at reduced rates.
This allows industries to perform energy intensive tasks during off-peak times, thereby reducing the cost of the energy consumed," said Gene Meyer, extension mechanical engineer at K-State.
The time-of-the-day rates also may allow businesses to adopt chilled water or ice storage cooling strategies.
"With this technology, chilled water or ice is made during off-peak times and stored to provide cooling for commercial buildings during the daytime," Meyer said.
Because the energy used to produce the ice or chilled water is available at lower costs, this reduces the cost of cooling buildings.
"There are certain requirements that must be satisfied to qualify for the lower rates offered in these off-peak rate schedules," Meyer said.
Businesses interested in these rates should contact their utility directly for details.
"The typical winter monthly electric energy consumption in a home with a gas furnace and water heater is 750 kilowatt hours (kwh)," said Doug Walter, extension specialist in residential energy at Kansas State University.
The major energy-consuming appliances, ranked according to their typical monthly energy use, are: refrigerator, 160 kwh; range, 130 kwh; deep freeze, 115 kwh; lighting, 90 kwh; clothes dryer, 80 kwh; furnace blower, 70 kwh; television, 40 kwh; dishwasher, 30 kwh; clothes washer, 20 kwh; and miscellaneous, 15 kwh.
If your consumption is significantly higher than the average, possible reasons are having more than one refrigerator and freezer, doing laundry for a large or busy family, cooking and washing dishes for a large family, having several outdoor security lights, leaving the television on constantly, pumping water from your own well, having one or more heated water beds, or running an electric heater.
"The single piece of sheet rock or quarter-inch-thick plywood most often used for this panel is not an effective way to reduce heat loss or form a tight seal with the frame," said Bruce Snead, extension specialist in residential energy at K-State.
Insulation should be added to the top of the panel. This can either be fiber glass batt or rigid foam and should be thick enough to achieve an R-value equal to the insulation in the attic.
If you use loose-fill insulation in the attic, the easiest way to avoid spillage when you open the access panel is to frame a barrier around the opening.
This can be done with plywood, lumber or even heavy cardboard.
The frame in which the panel rests should be weather-stripped to reduce air leakage.
"The weight of the panel should be sufficient to make a good seal with an adhesive foam strip," Snead said.
Finally, the ceiling trim around the opening should be caulked to further stop air leakage.