Air Sealing Your Log Home

Is air sealing your home as important as insulating your home?

Sealing your home against air infiltration is as important as insulating your home. If your home is not properly sealed, you will spend more money on cooling and heating your home than is necessary. Incomplete or improper sealing will also contribute to uncomfortable drafts and give insects and dust an opportunity to enter your home.

The impact of little or no sealing can dramatically increase the cost of heating and cooling in a windy location because the insulation in your home will have little to no effect because the wind can remove the conditioned air before the insulation has an opportunity to stop it.

The best way to minimize air infiltration in a log home is to make sure that you buy very dry logs. A moisture content of 15% or less is the most desirable because dry logs have minimal movement so there is less chance for a seal failure. (U.S. Department of Energy)

Also, pay close attention to all of the transition areas in the home. These are areas, such as corners, and intersections where walls meet the roof, walls meet foundations and where windows and doors meet walls must be properly sealed. Also, fireplaces and chimneys need special attention.

It is generally inexpensive and easy to seal your home properly when it is being built. All that is required is a knowledgeable general contractor who pays attention to details and a good set of construction plans.

We strongly recommend that the homeowner hire a certified energy auditor to review the construction plans and monitor the home while under construction, because he can test the home for tightness after it is completed.

Most states offer some type of financial reward if the home meets a certain energy standard and your energy auditor can help you with submitting the proper documents.

In short, your new log home needs to be air sealed very well, and it is easy to do with the help of an energy auditor.

Published on: December 8th, 2016

Like what you read? Need more information? Achieving energy efficiency for you log homes goes beyond the logs. We've asked industry experts, Katahdin Cedar Log Homes to help with the answers. Click here to see more.