How weatherstripping your windows and doors will save greenhouse gases and money.

Unsealed windows and doors are like having a hole in a rainwater tank. The water, or in this case heat, flows out and after a short while there is none left, leaving you cold. In summer the heat flows the other way, leaving you hot. Most modern windows recognise this and have built in seals. However many doors are not sealed, often with a large gap (typically around 10 mm) at the bottom. In older homes, the windows are often not sealed, particularly those with timber or steel frames.

In fact the gaps around a typical door are about the same total size as a house brick. If you have two outside doors, this is equivalent to two bricks missing from your walls. You wouldn't expect a home with two bricks missing to keep you warm in winter or cool in summer. It is no wonder that in a poorly sealed home heat loss from window and door gaps is about 12% of total heat loss.

Worse still, in winter cold draughts from under doors come in at floor level, and because cold air sinks, stays at floor level to freeze your toes. Furthermore, because draughts in windy weather can be quite strong, you can get an effect like wind chill. This reduces comfort even more, and encourages you to set the heater to a higher temperature. Every degree warmer you keep the room means using up to 10% more energy (on top of the 12% directly lost through the gaps).

Weatherstripping is relatively inexpensive, and normally pays for itself in less than a year. This means the increase in comfort for you and your family, and the reduction in greenhouse gases are effectively free!

DIY weatherstripping (sometimes called weather stripping or draught excluders) is available. Weatherstripping is available to suit most window types. One problem with choosing and buying weatherstripping, is that it can be very confusing standing in front of a display in a hardware store trying to work out what to buy. If you find out you need more information to make the decision, or they are out of stock of the type you need, you have wasted the trip. The table below is a better way to choose the right Raven weatherstripping for your home, in the comfort of your own home:

You can buy quality Raven weatherstripping on line.