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Posted by peter on January 4, 2009, 2:43 pm
One home weatherproofing step I am taking is to add foam insulation
inserts behind the plastic covers on power outlets in my home.
Mine is a 120 year old brick Victorian, the end unit in a row of four.
Question: I can feel the cold (this is Canada) on many of the outlets,
especially those on the outer walls. Is it worthwhile or necessary
however to insulate the other ones, the ones on internal walls, the
walls between the houses and between rooms? Is there heat loss there
too?
Thanks,
Peter
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Posted by clare on January 4, 2009, 3:15 pm
wrote:
show/hide quoted text
>One home weatherproofing step I am taking is to add foam insulation
>inserts behind the plastic covers on power outlets in my home.
>Mine is a 120 year old brick Victorian, the end unit in a row of four.
>Question: I can feel the cold (this is Canada) on many of the outlets,
>especially those on the outer walls. Is it worthwhile or necessary
>however to insulate the other ones, the ones on internal walls, the
>walls between the houses and between rooms? Is there heat loss there
>too?
>Thanks,
>Peter
The "gaskets" are NOT a good idea. The cold air comes in THROUGH the
receptacle then, and warm moist air gets out the same way. The PROPER
way to do it is to spray "great stuff" low expanding urethane foam
into the wall cavity around the box. That seals the entire outlet and
avoids the damage caused by air going through the receptacles as well.
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Posted by dicko on January 4, 2009, 3:57 pm
On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:15:05 -0500, clare@snyder.on.ca wrote:
show/hide quoted text
>wrote:
>>One home weatherproofing step I am taking is to add foam insulation
>>inserts behind the plastic covers on power outlets in my home.
>>Mine is a 120 year old brick Victorian, the end unit in a row of four.
>>Question: I can feel the cold (this is Canada) on many of the outlets,
>>especially those on the outer walls. Is it worthwhile or necessary
>>however to insulate the other ones, the ones on internal walls, the
>>walls between the houses and between rooms? Is there heat loss there
>>too?
>>Thanks,
>>Peter
>The "gaskets" are NOT a good idea. The cold air comes in THROUGH the
>receptacle then, and warm moist air gets out the same way. The PROPER
>way to do it is to spray "great stuff" low expanding urethane foam
>into the wall cavity around the box. That seals the entire outlet and
>avoids the damage caused by air going through the receptacles as well.
Yes, it is necessary to do the interier walls too. The walls are not
airtight and leak air into the attic. There has to be a hole through
the header to let the wires out, doesnt there?
If you cant do whats succetes above, also use those plastic outlet
caps that plug into unused outlets to keep air from leaking out the
slots.
You'd also do good to go along your foundation sill plate and
caulk/seal the sill to the concrete foundation. An incredible amount
of air usually leaks through that.
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Posted by DerbyDad03 on January 4, 2009, 7:43 pm
show/hide quoted text
> On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:15:05 -0500, cl...@snyder.on.ca wrote:
> >wrote:
> >>One home weatherproofing step I am taking is to add foam insulation
> >>inserts behind the plastic covers on power outlets in my home.
> >>Mine is a 120 year old brick Victorian, the end unit in a row of four.
> >>Question: I can feel the cold (this is Canada) on many of the outlets,
> >>especially those on the outer walls. Is it worthwhile or necessary
> >>however to insulate the other ones, the ones on internal walls, the
> >>walls between the houses and between rooms? Is there heat loss there
> >>too?
> >>Thanks,
> >>Peter
> >The "gaskets" are NOT a good idea. The cold air comes in THROUGH the
> >receptacle then, and warm moist air gets out the same way. The PROPER
> >way to do it is to spray "great stuff" low expanding urethane foam
> >into the wall cavity around the box. That seals the entire outlet and
> >avoids the damage caused by air going through the receptacles as well.
> Yes, it is necessary to do the interier walls too. =A0The walls are not
> airtight and leak air into the attic. There has to be a hole through
> the header to let the wires out, doesnt there?
> If you cant do whats succetes above, also use those plastic outlet
> caps that plug into unused outlets to keep air from leaking out the
> slots.
> You'd also do good to go along your foundation sill plate and
> caulk/seal the sill to the concrete foundation. An incredible amount
> of air usually leaks through that.- Hide quoted text -
> - Show quoted text -
re: "There has to be a hole through the header to let the wires out,
doesnt there?"
uh...no.
Unless you've got wires running through windows, doorways or other
openings, I doubt the wires run through any headers.
Now, had you said "There has to be a hole through the top plate(s) to
let the wires out, doesn't there?" you would have been closer. Of
course, if the wires come up from the basement, then the hole might be
in the sole plate, not the top plate.
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Posted by Steve Barker on January 4, 2009, 4:37 pm
the inside walls of older houses are many times very much open to the attic.
There are no 'headers' to speak of a lot of times. While this makes
rewiring a breeze, it also makes a BREEZE down the wall from the attic. I'd
put the insulators on all the covers if i were you.
steve
show/hide quoted text
> One home weatherproofing step I am taking is to add foam insulation
> inserts behind the plastic covers on power outlets in my home.
> Mine is a 120 year old brick Victorian, the end unit in a row of four.
> Question: I can feel the cold (this is Canada) on many of the outlets,
> especially those on the outer walls. Is it worthwhile or necessary
> however to insulate the other ones, the ones on internal walls, the
> walls between the houses and between rooms? Is there heat loss there
> too?
> Thanks,
> Peter
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>inserts behind the plastic covers on power outlets in my home.
>Mine is a 120 year old brick Victorian, the end unit in a row of four.
>Question: I can feel the cold (this is Canada) on many of the outlets,
>especially those on the outer walls. Is it worthwhile or necessary
>however to insulate the other ones, the ones on internal walls, the
>walls between the houses and between rooms? Is there heat loss there
>too?
>Thanks,
>Peter