This is probably very far from being our biggest insulation issue in our drafty old house, but Mr. Greenhab brought home these nifty "Socket Sealers" today. They're used to insulate outlets that are on exterior facing walls. I popped them on throughout the house in a matter of minutes and, in roughly 27 years, we will have recouped our $3.00 through energy savings.Ha ha ha!
Anyhoo... You just remove the outlet cover and pop on the pre-cut piece of insulation...
...then put your plate back on. Easy-peasy!
Once on, the holes where your plug goes are still exposed, so I recommend using safety plugs like this to block any incoming drafts. I know I'm not particularly crazy about the fact that they're plastic, but without them I can feel a pretty strong draft flowing in. You can easily find these at thrift stores or on Freecycle, so at least you can forgo buying them new.
As an added bonus, they're made in the good ol' USA and don't come in any superfluous plastic packaging, just a cardboard box.
4 comments:
Those REALLY work! Our house is so drafty too. If I wanted to mess with it(which I need to) I'd have insulation blown in the walls. They didn't do much of that in 1949 when my house was built!
Are the savings really so small? :( The inspector when we bought our last house (and the only one we've owned) told us that you lose more heat through the outlets than the windows. Sounds like he was exaggerating...
I think the safety plugs block more of the draft than the outlet insulation does. I'm not sure what the actual savings would be, I was just being silly really.
Between the plugs and the insulation I bet it's actually a substantial improvement. My husband often complains that he feels a draft when we're sitting at dinner. I realized when doing this that he sits near one of the outlets. I bet that's where it was coming from!
What a great idea. My daughter's room is freeezing and I'll try these to see if it helps.
Post a Comment