Insulate light switches and electrical outlets
- by Gary E. Sattler (RSS feed) on Nov 13th 2007 6:00PM
- Filed under fix-it, preventative maintenance, seasonal, weekend projects, electrical, staying green
Air infiltration into your house is the number one enemy of your home heating and cooling efficiency. Wall switches and electrical outlets which are located on the exterior walls of your home can serve as ports of entry for outside air. Insulating these potential thermal leaks is simple and cheap to do.You can get inexpensive foam outlet seals at any home or hardware store. They are simple die cut foam shields which go between your outlet plate and the wire box in the wall. These foam insulators can potentially shut off air leakage entering your home from behind switches and outlets.
The process is simple and goes like this:
- Properly disconnect the power to where you are working.
- Remove the cover from your switch or outlet box.
- Select the proper foam seal and remove the cut outs.
- Place the seal over the open face of the wire box and line up the holes.
- Replace the switch plate or outlet cover.
Comments [2]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-09-2009 @ 8:19PM
djlombardo said...
Electrical Outlet Switch Cover Sealers/Gaskets really do work. They can reduce your heating and cooling bill by as much as 20%. They are a cheap way to retain heating and cooling in your home. If you place your hand over your outlets in the Winter on a windy day, you will feel air blowing through them. So the purpose is to seal off the outlets & switches from the living space. I found a local energy audit firm to conduct what is called a blower door test on my home. Before the sealers were installed, the outlets whistled; they leaked so bad. The tech conducted a post test after the sealers were installed and they were not only sealed, but I reduced my home's over-all air infiltration rate. Simply stated, I am now retaining my heating and cooling. What good is a high efficiency or geo-thermal system if your home cannot retain what is generated?
I went to Home Depot and paid a fortune in small Frost King packs to do my entire home. (It cost me over $100). A couple years later I built a new home, which I had more modern switches and receptacles. I found a company that sells the "Decorator" or "Decora" Leviton switch and outlet sealers/gaskets in bulk, costing a fraction compared to those retail Frost King packs that you find at Home Depot or Lowes. I looked all over for these foam gaskets. For those of you don't know, the Decora are the fat, contemporary rocker style switches found in newer homes. They will also work on bathroom GFI outlets. I ordered them from ReduceMyEnergy.com and installed them in my home. What a BIG difference. My rooms are cozy and more comfortable too. They have already more than paid for themselves.
Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.reducemyenergy.com/draftproducts.htm
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7-18-2009 @ 7:03AM
Bill Daviau said...
The gaskets cannot possibly work. Receptacles themselves allow free air flow through the plug and ground penetrations. You can blow air through a receptacle. Unless the leakage is stopped at the wire entry, it is not stopped.
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