Reducing the Tightness Clearing insulation from attic vents and adding sources of ventilation are the first plans of attack to loosen up a tight house. If an inspection determines your home could use more insulation, it doesn't mean you have to use the same types of materials that are already in your home.
Experts say there's no such thing as a home that's too tight; it just requires proper ventilation. Without ventilation, pollutants can build up and impact air quality. You can determine how tight your home is with a blower door test.
Internally, apply sealant to gaps between the wall reveals / window boards and the window / door units. Draughtstrip existing windows and external doors. (Do not draughtstrip to kitchens and bathrooms unless extract ventilation is provided.) Use synthetic rubber or elastomeric tubular seals.
A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is particularly helpful during the winter months, when it's common to have warm, dry, stale air circulating throughout your home. It works by bringing cool, fresh air into the home while also exchanging it for the stale air indoors.
When a house is airtight, the nasties in the indoor air tend to stick around. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), water vapor, odors, radon, and other stuff you don't want to immerse yourself in make the home's indoor air quality worse.
Tips for Sealing Air Leaks
Caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows that leak air. Caulk and seal air leaks where plumbing, ducting, or electrical wiring comes through walls, floors, ceilings, and soffits over cabinets. Install foam gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on walls.
Persistent Odors: Homes should refresh and clear out odors naturally through proper ventilation. If cooking smells, smoke, or other odors last longer than they should, it's likely your home isn't circulating air properly.
Overall, an airtight house can provide a comfortable, healthy, and energy-efficient living environment while also reducing the impact on the environment. While an airtight house can offer several benefits, it can also experience some issues.
Increase Ventilation with Outside Air
Open windows and screened doors. Do not open windows and doors if doing so poses a safety or health risk to children or other family members (e.g., risk of falling or triggering asthma symptoms). Operate a whole-house fan, or an evaporative cooler, if your home has one.
Whole-house ventilation system costs $700 to $2,700. This mechanical ventilation system uses a series of fans or a whole-house fan and ducts to cool, heat, and improve the home's air quality. All of the mechanical ventilation systems can be used to achieve whole-house ventilation.
The national average cost to air seal a home is between $600 to $2,300, with most people paying around $1,450 to seal the interior and exterior walls in a 1,500 sq. ft. home. At the low end of the spectrum, you pay $200 to air seal the ductwork in a 1,500 sq.
To complete an air tightness test we need access to an empty dwelling. We put a large fan in an expandable door frame, which goes into an external door in the house, normally the front door. All other external doors and windows will be closed and all internal doors kept open.
Most people call these air leaks "drafts." You may feel these drafts around windows and doors and think these leaks are your major source of wasted energy. In most homes, however, the most significant air leaks are hidden in the attic and basement.
Signs that a home is too airtight include mold or condensation on your ceilings, outer walls, and windows. This becomes particularly important if you have fuel-burning combustion devices such as gas ranges or furnaces. The dangerous exhaust gases may enter your house rather than exit through the flue.
With insufficient ventilation, warm air lingers in summer, which can lead to overheating and the need for more cooling. In winter, a lack of ventilation can allow cold air to enter, requiring more heating. This results in a higher energy consumption for both heating and cooling, and consequently higher energy bills.
Fact: the people in a house need to breathe, but the house itself doesn't need to breathe. The source of this myth is an understandable concern for indoor air quality. After all, we all want to be sure that the air in our homes is healthy and safe for our families.
Check your vents to see if they are not obstructed in any way. Remove any furniture or drapes blocking the airflow. While you are checking all the vents in your home, take a piece of cloth to clean the dust off the vents' grills. Fix any leaks and holes in your HVAC ductwork.
Leave the ceiling fans and air circulators on all night to help move hot air out and bring the cool air in. Pedestal fans can help move air between rooms. Create a cross breeze by opening the highest windows on one side of the home and the lowest windows on the other.
While a house can't be too tightly sealed, it can be poorly ventilated. If you tightly seal your house without ensuring that it has adequate ventilation, you won't get any fresh air circulation, which can make it feel stuffy and stale indoors.
Occupants of homes with poor indoor air quality may complain of symptoms such as headache, eye irritation, fatigue, dry throat, sinus congestion, dizziness, and nausea. Because many illnesses can cause these symptoms, diagnosing sick building syndrome is difficult.
Open the windows, or screened doors, if possible. Operate a window air conditioner that has an outdoor air intake or vent, with the vent open (some window air conditioners do not have outside air intakes) Open the outside air intake of the HVAC system, if yours has one (this is not common).
You can determine if your home has an air flow problem by performing the garbage bag air flow test – so named because the goal is to determine how long it takes for a garbage bag to fill with air (or whether it does it all).