How to Save Money on Your Home Energy Costs: Part Two - How to Quickly Seal the Small Air Leaks Using GREAT STUFF ™

?In Part One of this series, we conducted a Home Energy Audit to ascertain exactly where we were wasting energy while heating and cooling our home. If you performed this audit carefully, I'm sure that you have discovered many problem areas that you never suspected to exist before the audit. In Part Two of this series we're going to begin handling all of those problems by breaking them up into manageable groups that will be easy for the DIYer to handle. We are going to begin by tackling all those small leaks like around the electrical receptacles, lighting outlets, power distribution panel, switches, service entrance cable, and plumbing. These are problem areas that are easily handled even by the first time home handy person using nothing more than a screwdriver and a can of GREAT STUFF ™.

The materials that we will be using are a series of spray foam insulation products called " GREAT STUFF ™ " by DOW Chemicals. These products can be found home centers and hardware stores. Great Stuff comes in five distinct types and each meets a specific need.

? GREAT STUFF ™ Gaps & Cracks is a minimal expansion polyurethane insulating foam sealant that fills, seals and insulates gaps up to 1 inch. This is great for use around electrical receptacles, electrical switches, and lighting outlet boxes. At first glance, Great Stuff may appear expensive compared to traditional tubes of caulking but it's actually less expensive. One 12-oz can equals approximately 19 tubes of traditional caulk. One 16-oz can does the work of 24 tubes of traditional caulking. One 20-oz can does the work of 30 tubes of caulking.

? GREAT STUFF™ Big Gap Filler insulating foam sealant has the same benefits as GREAT STUFF™ Gaps & Cracks but differs in its expansion properties. GREAT STUFF™ Big Gap Filler expands approximately three times more than GREAT STUFF™ Gaps & Cracks. Because of the larger foam expansion characteristics, it is ideal for filling large gaps and holes greater than 1 inch.

? GREAT STUFF™ Window & Door foam sealant is exclusively formulated to air-seal the gap between a window or door frame and its rough opening. One can of window and door foam sealant is enough to seal four to six standard size residential windows (36’ x 60”, 3/8” wide gap, and 1” deep).

? GREAT STUFF™ Fireblock Insulating Foam Sealant is an easy way to provide fire protection by reducing air movement in your home. By sealing the annular space surrounding your pipes, cables and ducts, the rate and speed of flames, deadly gasses and toxic smoke are minimized. At the same time, it helps you conserve energy, reduce drafts, and save on heating and cooling costs. GREAT STUFF™ Fireblock is a minimal expansion polyurethane insulating foam sealant that fills, seals, and insulates gaps up to 1 inch. Like all GREAT STUFF™ products, it is polyurethane based and will not absorb water.

DOW Chemical has produced an excellent "Air-Seal Audit Checklist" and an excellent how-to manual for using GREAT STUFF™ in pdf format that's free to download. Here's the link http://greatstuff.dow.com/pdfs/checklist.pdf.

GREAT STUFF™ is available at all home centers and all well stocked hardware stores, as well as at may general merchandise, big box stores like Wal Marts, K-Marts, Sam's Club, etc.

In Part Three of this series we will take a look at DIY spray foam insulation for filling finished walls.