Keeping your Cincinnati area home sealed against air leaks is just as important during cooling season when you run the furnace in winter. The expensive air conditioning Cincinnati residents enjoy will drift right out through the tiny cracks and holes throughout a home lacking weatherstripping.

What Is Weatherstripping?

If you look around the windows and doors of your home, you should see flexible metal, foam, felt or vinyl that expands to fill the gap between window and casing or door and door frame. That material is weatherstripping. It does for movable openings in your home what caulk does for immobile openings, such as pipes and cables running through walls and roof. 

Why Weatherstripping Matters

When paying for air conditioning, Cincinnati homeowners don't want their money wasted. Even tiny air leaks around an unsealed door will invite summer’s hot air inside and allow cool air to escape. No central air conditioner will operate with maximum efficiency if it has to constantly fight warm air sneaking in and cool air leaking outside. Conserve natural resources, lower your electrical bill and keep your Cincinnati area home cool and comfortable by applying inexpensive weatherstripping.

How Is Weatherstripping Applied?

While weatherstripping can be mixed around any application, some materials are better suited for certain spots. Metal door sweeps with nylon-brush bottoms can be attached to entry doors. Heavy-duty, professionally applied interlocking metal channels around doorways are so sturdy they seldom need replacement. Adhesive-backed vinyl is easily applied by a homeowner but will need replacing in a few years. Some weatherstripping can be stapled in place, and many types come with pressure-sensitive adhesive backing.

Apply weatherstripping when the daytime air temperatures have held steady for several days to avoid issues with contraction and expansion. Start at the back of your Cincinnati area home and work your way around to the more visible side, so your technique improves as you work.

For more help sealing in the air conditioning Cincinnati homeowners enjoy, contact us at JonLe Heating & Cooling.

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