Attic Air Leaks: How to Find and Seal Them
You probably think of your ceilings as solid surfaces, but the truth is that ceilings leak air into unfinished attic spaces through gaps and openings, such as around pipes and lighting fixtures. Air leaking into your attic could be costing you money — up to 30% of a home’s heating and cooling energy is lost due to air leaks. Here’s how to find and seal those leaks.
From below your attic, check the ceilings and note the locations of all light fixtures, ceiling fans, and electrical outlets. From the attic-side of your ceiling, find the fixtures you noted. You’ll have to pull back existing insulation to find them.
Electrical connections for fixtures, fans, and outlets require a hole cutout in your ceiling drywall. Each of these cutouts is a likely air leak. You can stop air leaks by sealing the cutouts from above with acrylic latex or silicone caulk, or with low-expansion polyurethane foam, depending on the size of the gap.
Also check for anything that penetrates the ceiling: pipes, vent stacks, flues and chimneys, electrical wiring, heating and air conditioning ducts, access hatch.
Gaps around these locations should also be sealed from above...
