Wednesday, February 20, 2013

home improvement: drafty outlets

When my parents were in D.C. earlier this month to help put up crown molding, my dad mentioned that he felt a draft from our outlets and that we might want to insulate them. It had not occurred to me that (a) outlets can be drafty or that (b) they can be insulated. But now I know.

So the next time Tony and I were at Home Depot, we picked up a couple of packages of these outlet sealers. We used one piece for each light switch and outlet on the front and back walls of the house. (Rowhouse living perk - no need to insulate on the sides of the house because they're up against the neighbors' houses.)


The process started with removing the outlet covers.


Here's one of our drafty outlets:


The material on the insulation is perforated, so you just have to poke through the shapes to fit the light switch or outlet.


Like so:


Here's Tony placing the foam over the outlet.


And that's about it. Screw the outlet cover back on. The capital investment for this project was about $4 for two packages of insulation, so hopefully we recoup that cash in the form of lower utility bills over time. No more drafty outlets.

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