Mordenizer — Home Energy Upgrades | mordenizer.com
An ordered two-day procedure: find the leaks, seal from the top down, then confirm each stage with the incense test.
Saturday starts in the attic, because the attic is sealed and insulated first — warm air rises and escapes through the top of the house. Walk the attic floor with a light and mark every bypass: plumbing chases, electrical penetrations, top plates of interior walls, and the gap around the chimney chase.
Seal top-down. Foam and caulk the small penetrations, then stuff and cover the larger chases before any insulation goes down. Typical failure at this stage: sealing around a live wire or a hot flue, which is a fire hazard — leave those to a professional or use the correct high-temperature material.
Run the incense test before covering anything. Hold a lit incense stick near each sealed joint; a steady wisp of smoke bending toward the gap means the seal is not airtight yet. Repeat until the smoke stays still. Typical failure: declaring the job done on visual inspection alone — mastic and caulk can look finished while still leaking.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Saturday afternoon moves to doors and windows: weatherstrip the frames, adjust the hinges so the slab seats evenly, and check the sweep at the bottom of each exterior door. This is the cheapest air-sealing measure and typically pays back within one heating season.
Sunday is ducts and controls. Brush fiber-reinforced mastic onto every joint, boot and air-handler connection — leaky ducts can account for about 20 percent of heat loss, and duct tape dries out and lets go. Typical failure: taping instead of mastic, which looks tidy and fails within a few heating seasons.
Finish with the thermostat. Program a 7 to 10 degree Fahrenheit setback for 8 hours a day — the standard US Department of Energy guidance for cutting heating and cooling costs by around 10 percent a year — then re-run the incense test at the attic hatch and exterior doors to confirm the weekend held.
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