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Why Draughtproofing?
Draughtproofing your home is a relatively quick and easy way to reduce heat loss and cut heating bills. In a typical house it is suggested draughts can account for 10% of total heat loss, much more if there is an unused fireplace (Source: EnergyEnvoys).
Draughts occur where there are unwanted gaps in the construction of your home, and where openings, holes, slits or cracks are left unsealed. Draughts are different from ventilation because they are uncontrolled and uncontrollable
The DraughtBuster site sets out steps you can take to reduce draughts and improve the airtightness of your home. Most are things that you can do yourself if you are reasonably confident at DIY.
We also cover some measures that you might want to get a builder or home energy specialist to do, perhaps alongside other planned work (e.g. upgrading your heating system, refurbishing your kitchen or bathroom, or building an extension).
Key Topics and Resources
How to get started
Learn about the 4 main sources of drafts alongside the tools and materials to get you started
Finding Draughts
An overview of typical places you may find draughts, alongside methods for locating them
Going Further
Got your initial draughtsbusted? Well you can explore further areas to tackle and ways to save energy
Books
We're compiling an overview of recommended books on draughtproofing and insultation
Videos
A selection of guidance videos on DraughtBusting, alongside the types of tools to get you started
FAQ'S
We've compiled an overview of some of the questions we often get asked on DraughtBusters and draughtproofing
Importance of Ventilation
Before you rush off to seal your home like a vacuum packed kipper, it is worth stressing that all homes need to be ventilated. Controlled ventilation helps ensure that the air in your home stays fresh and that humidity doesn’t rise to a level where it becomes a problem.
There are also some parts of your home where ventilation is important to the health of the building, for example the void under the suspended timber ground floors. We’ll try and flag these sorts of considerations wherever they come up in the text.
Protecting against damp and condensation
One of the arguments that is often given for not bothering to draught proof is that it increases the likelihood of damp and condensation. There is some truth in this myth, but it is a good example of confusing draughts and controlled ventilation.
To help, we’ve included a couple of pages first of all on the typical causes of damp and condensation in buildings and then some simple measures you can take to help reduce the levels of condensation that could occur in our homes as we go about our normal lives.
A cautionary note, if you don’t have any condensation problems it could be that your house is very draughty.
