House Air Sealing Strategies

[semipro]

We seem to have a lot of discussion on this topic here. I thought this article at the Green Building Advisor website would interest many here. I know it interests me. Cheers.
(broken link removed to http://tinyurl.com/oc3byps)

 

[begreen]

I would somewhat disagree with the conclusion that sealing windows and doors is least effective. It depends on the size of the leak. An 1/8" gap on two sides of a door or large window can lead to considerable cold air infiltration.

 

[woodgeek]

The paper agrees with my own experience. Typical pre-2000 construction has several hundred to a thousand square inches of opening in the framing, that are not part of the windows and doors. If you have an obvious gap in a door or window, yeah, weatherstrip it, but mostly windows and doors get too much attention b/c of their visibility.