Sears Blue Climate Crew

Why you need holes in your house

Every home, no matter when or how it was built, has about a dozen holes that should be there. Without them, air would not come in, light would not come in and you would not come in. However, if they are not properly maintained, they can cost you extra money for heating, cooling, and home repairs. Here's a list of the holes you need, and some of the problems you might run into with them.

Doors and windows

The doors to the outside are the largest holes in your home. The largest door-related leak of heated and cooled air has an easy solution: get the kids to close it. If, once the door is closed, you are still having problems, check for damaged or missing weather-stripping or bent hinges that affect the fit of the door.

With windows, as with doors, air loss and moisture intrusion comes mostly from leaving them open when they shouldn't be. Even when windows are properly shut, leaks can still occur around the frames or around the glass itself. Weather-stripping and caulking are your best tools for sealing leaks around windows. Caulk both the interior and exterior.

Vents and chimneys

Vents and chimneys exhaust combustion gases and moisture from a variety of sources, including gas and oil furnaces, water heaters, dryers and exhaust fans.

With furnaces, the greatest potential problem is combustion spillage, when toxic exhaust ends up in your house instead of going up your chimney; it can lead to headaches, illness, carbon monoxide poisoning and death. Combustion spillage is caused by a blocked or poorly installed chimney or backdrafting, which happens when exhaust fans pull air through the chimney. Regular maintenance helps detect problems.

Fireplaces vent out a chimney and, as with furnances, combustion spillage is a concern. Energy loss, however, is the most common problem. In winter, cold air comes in and warm air escapes if you don't close the damper – one study found that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise energy costs for heating and cooling by up to 30 percent. If your damper is warped or improperly sized, you lose air even when it's shut. Installing glass doors reduces but doesn't eliminate energy loss through the chimney. If you install glass doors, talk to the dealer about which one is right for your fireplace.

Clothes dryer vents are allow moisture, air and lint to escape your house. When the dryer isn't on, however, air from outside can come in through the vent and get into your home. Most vents have a flapper to stop some of this leakage, but the flappers don't provide a positive seal and can get clogged with lint. Clear lint from your vents regularly and close the dryer door to reduce this air intrusion. Also, be sure the exterior of your vent pipe is properly sealed, to avoid more air leakage and possible water penetration.

Exhaust fans remove heat, moisture, smells and smoke from your home. Many homes have exhaust fans in the bathroom and the kitchen. Others have whole house exhaust systems. As with other vents, improper installation can lead to air loss or water infiltration. Avoid flexible ducting – it reduces the airflow and collects debris. If you are in a cold climate, the exhaust vents that travel through your attic must be properly insulated to prevent condensation. All fans should vent outside, not into any area of the home – the worst case is a fan that exhausts into your attic, introducing warm, moist air that contributes to condensation, wood-rot and mold in your attic.

Some homes have fresh air intake vents in the basement to supply air to the furnace, balance the home's pressure and prevent backdrafting. These vents should have a heat trap or bucket to reduce cold air entry when not needed. Better still is to install an automatic vent damper that operates with the furnace, opening when the furnace is on and closing when it is off.

Attic vents clears moisture and overheated air from your attic. Soffit vents let air flow into the attic and roof vents let air flow out. This continuous airflow reduces mold and mildew, and increases the longevity of your roof. It also reduces AC load in the summer and prevents ice dams in the winter. Common types of roof vents are ridge vents that run the length of your roof, standard roofs vent that provide several covered openings along your roof, and gable louvers that provide openings on either end of your home near the roof. Wind turbine vents that use wind to draw air from the attic are not recommended. They work when it is windy, which is precisely when you don't need them.

For any attic vent, blockages can lead to moisture buildup and reduce the life of your roof. In the case of soffit vents, installing baffles that hold back the insulation help keep them from being blocked from inside. Vents also need to be properly screened to keep out pests.

The plumbing stack vent removes sewer gases and maintains atmospheric pressure in your waste system to prevent siphoning and allow waste to flow freely. Condensation inside this pipe isn't a problem, because it all goes straight to your wastewater. Moisture on the outside, however, can be a problem: water sometimes can get past the stack vent's flashing on the roof and enter your house (either in the walls or the attic) and can cause damage. Another worry with plumbing stack vents is improper sealing, which may cause the gases from the vent to leak into your home rather than going out above the roof. This can lead to bad smells and possible illness, as some sewer gases are toxic.

Other holes

Service conduits allow the lines for your electricity, gas, phone, cable and satellite dish into the house. Lack of sealing is the big problem here, as enough little holes together make for pretty sizable air leaks. Seal these holes to keep air from flowing out.

Outside faucets run from the same source as your interior water. As with all plumbing applications, condensation and leakage are the biggest potential problems, but also pay attention to potential air leakage where the pipe penetrates the exterior wall. Caulk this area.

Weep holes are along the base of exterior walls in houses with a masonry veneer exterior. These holes help control moisture and prevent the damage to the brick. Debris in the holes can lead to moisture buildup, which can damage your brick and the wood frame wall behind it.

The attic hatch is an oft-neglected hole in your house that can leak as much air as a small window. Generally, the attic hatch cover is a thin, poorly sealed piece of plywood. Installing a heavier, latched, weather-stripped, insulated attic hatch can save you a good deal of money.