Great Stuff! - (Project, Cheap)

Sealing holes in barriers between indoor conditioned air and the outdoor air is one of the important steps (and often cheapest) in saving energy. A by-product of sealing these holes is that it often makes the home quieter since it dampens sound energy penetration from the outside.

The tool is Great Stuff (Gaps and Cracks), an expanding insulating foam. You can get it at Home Depot or Lowes for about $5 per can and each can seals several holes. Caution: Do not use it near any open flames or hot devices. It should be safe to use in attics and near hot water pipes, though. Make sure to wear gloves, goggles, old clothes (long sleeves), and keep a rag (that you'll throw away afterwards) handy. This stuff is hard to get off your skin, so you really want to keep skin contact to a minimum. (The Great Stuff FAQ has important tips, like "How do I get foam off of my hands?" and "How do I get foam off the side of my house?").

This time, we're looking for pipes and other holes in the walls. Typically, holes where pipes enter the home don't get completely sealed. Look under sinks, behind toilets, and in the attic where water and natural gas pipes or cables penetrate walls and ceilings.

On the left is a blurry picture from under my sink. See the hole where the pipe is coming out? That hole is letting unconditioned air in.

Push the tube into the hole and squeeze off some foam to close each hole. If you find a really large hole, don't waste the stuff - we'll look into those in a later post. A group of How-to videos are available if you want to see this in action.

On the right is the hole I plugged behind our half bath's toilet. We've painted since, so the plug has a bit of the wall tint to it. Good thing those covers hide my handiwork!