On Dec 28, 7:28*pm, "SBH" wrote:
.....for the home. Is it worth it?

I repaired a loose connection in an outlet on an exterior wall. Upon doing so, I noticed a draft of cold air from under the outlet. Therefore, I temporarily plugged it. Directly under the that area in the basement above my drop ceiling panels, also on the exterior wall, is another draft which appears to be coming from the side door area. Two summers past, I used expand foam and caulk along the entire side of the house and filled in some questionable areas around the door with cement (threshold area), hoping I might conquer this draft. Nope, nothing doing and it's aggravating. Therefore, the infrared red scanning idea comes to mind. I need to find this leak, along with other reasons why part of my house is colder than the rest.

Inputs?

Thanks

Saw this AM that Lowe's and Home Depot rent the infra-red cameras.

Jimmie

"JIMMIE" wrote in message
...
On Dec 28, 7:28 pm, "SBH" wrote:
.....for the home. Is it worth it?

I repaired a loose connection in an outlet on an exterior wall. Upon doing
so, I noticed a draft of cold air from under the outlet. Therefore, I
temporarily plugged it. Directly under the that area in the basement above
my drop ceiling panels, also on the exterior wall, is another draft which
appears to be coming from the side door area. Two summers past, I used
expand foam and caulk along the entire side of the house and filled in
some questionable areas around the door with cement (threshold area),
hoping I might conquer this draft. Nope, nothing doing and it's
aggravating. Therefore, the infrared red scanning idea comes to mind. I
need to find this leak, along with other reasons why part of my house is
colder than the rest.

Inputs?

Thanks

Saw this AM that Lowe's and Home Depot rent the infra-red cameras.

Jimmie

Yes, no, absolutely, maybe, and I don't have a clue.

It all depends on what your skill levels are, and how well you want to fix
it.

Example: You may see heat escaping from some opening. As you stated, just
stuff it full of insulation, right? No. What if it's coming from a broken
taping of a duct? Or some opening that will just keep letting air in or
out? It's not as easy as just renting a camera, and plugging holes. You
want to find the root causes, and that takes time, expertise, and in some
cases, money.

Enter, the professional. Some of the companies that will come out and do an
analysis are like car repair shops. No matter if you just need front
shocks, they will give you an estimate that includes tie rod ends, springs,
ball joints, and on and on and on.

For the cost of just renting one of the units, WHAT I WOULD DO, is FIRST,
get access ready to all areas so I can have the least time on the rental.
Then rent one, and see if there are any very obvious things that are
broken, loose, torn, or just leaking.

Remember that you do not want to make your house air tight, as that will
cause condensation and mold or heat build up in the summer.

If there are some simple things that you can do, do them yourself. If it
gets complicated, get SEVERAL bids, BUT DO NOT TELL ANY OF THEM THAT YOU HAD
ANOTHER COMPANY OUT, OR WHAT THEY PROPOSED TO DO OR PRICES. Sometimes, they
will tell you what's wrong, and after they leave, you can fix it for less.

If you have a soffit vent that's spewing warm air, it means you have
something putting positive warm pressure into your attic, like a loose duct.
It doesn't mean you have to seal all soffit vents and make your attic sweat.
You need to find and fix the root cause.

I'd rent it again this summer, and see if you have any places where cold air
is coming out of your AC system, as they may be isolated in some part, and
you would want to find out those, too.

Then caulk, insulate, flash, etc.

Let us know what you find, and a story about it so we may learn something
from your experiences.

Steve

"Steve B" wrote in message
...


Example: You may see heat escaping from some opening. As you stated,
just stuff it full of insulation, right? No. What if it's coming from a
broken taping of a duct? Or some opening that will just keep letting air
in or out? It's not as easy as just renting a camera, and plugging holes.
You want to find the root causes, and that takes time, expertise, and in
some cases, money.

Enter, the professional. Some of the companies that will come out and do
an analysis are like car repair shops. No matter if you just need front
shocks, they will give you an estimate that includes tie rod ends,
springs, ball joints, and on and on and on.

For the cost of just renting one of the units, WHAT I WOULD DO, is FIRST,
get access ready to all areas so I can have the least time on the rental.
Then rent one, and see if there are any very obvious things that are
broken, loose, torn, or just leaking.

Remember that you do not want to make your house air tight, as that will
cause condensation and mold or heat build up in the summer.

If there are some simple things that you can do, do them yourself. If it
gets complicated, get SEVERAL bids, BUT DO NOT TELL ANY OF THEM THAT YOU
HAD ANOTHER COMPANY OUT, OR WHAT THEY PROPOSED TO DO OR PRICES.
Sometimes, they will tell you what's wrong, and after they leave, you can
fix it for less.

If you have a soffit vent that's spewing warm air, it means you have
something putting positive warm pressure into your attic, like a loose
duct. It doesn't mean you have to seal all soffit vents and make your
attic sweat. You need to find and fix the root cause.

I'd rent it again this summer, and see if you have any places where cold
air is coming out of your AC system, as they may be isolated in some part,
and you would want to find out those, too.

Then caulk, insulate, flash, etc.

Let us know what you find, and a story about it so we may learn something
from your experiences.

Steve
One thing is certain, I won't need to worry about the duct system as I don't
have a forced air system. My heating system is radiant/boiler system.