Enjoy a warmer and more comfortable home by following our guide to simple fixes for draughts.
At its most basic, draught-proofing is filling the gaps in a building, where heat escapes and cold air enters. Some people turn up the heating to counteract cold draughts; this warms your home but escaped heating costs you and emits carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions unnecessarily.
A properly draught-proofed and insulated house helps reduce your energy demands and CO2 emissions as well as saving on bills. Draught-proofing alone is not enough. A property’s thermal performance is also influenced by how we use our homes.
Below are useful hints and tips about draught-proofing and ventilation, including for owners of older and listed properties.
In England, Scotland or Wales, draught-proofing windows and doors of a typical gas-fuelled, semi-detached property could save you around £30 per year.
Draught-proof an open chimney when you’re not using it and you could save around £20 per year.
Draught-free homes are more comfortable at lower temperatures, so you can turn down your thermostat, saving even more on your energy bills.
You can complete many of our draught-proofing tips yourself if you are happy performing simple DIY tasks. Fitting foam strips and metal or plastic strips with brushes will go a long way to insulate many parts of your home.
Older buildings require extra care and specific materials, too. Consider calling a professional and always check if your building is listed – see below for more information.
If you are unsure about anything, the best thing to do is seek specialist advice from an installer who can assess your home’s needs.
Before blocking every gap you find, it’s important to remember that every property requires adequate ventilation. Proper ventilation allows moisture to be released, keeping our home fresh and dry and preventing damp and condensation.
Find out more about damp and condensation solutions.
Ventilation is especially important for kitchens and bathrooms. Any rooms with open fires and flues must be adequately ventilated.
Don’t seal or block:
Special care needs to be taken in houses that have internal gas appliances. All flueless gas appliances need some ventilation to operate safely. Fixed ventilation openings required for flueless and open flued gas heaters must not be blocked.
Draughts come into your house through gaps and cracks. First, look for any obvious gaps – visible light under and around doors and windows is a good clue.
Listen for rattles and whistling noises, especially during high winds. Take time to feel for moving air – around doors, windows, floorboards, beams, skirting boards, and any air conditioning units. Check stairways and fireplaces, too. You can often see curtains moving, which is a sure indication of draughts.
Draught-proofing strips work for windows that open.
Self-adhesive foam strips are cheap and easy to install but may not last long. A longer-term but slightly more costly solution is metal or plastic strips with brushes or wipers attached.
Sliding sash windows need brush strips. Consult a professional if you have any queries.
Make sure you measure the windows well; too much material and the window may not close, too little and there may remain a gap.
Silicone sealant is best for windows that don’t open.
To replace windows, check out our advice on energy efficient windows.
Draught-proofing outside doors can save a lot of heat – and money.
A metal disc cover for your keyhole is essential. Measure your letterbox and install a flap or brush, too.
Gaps need to be filled – use a hinged flap draught excluder or a brush to cover the bottom of the door and use foam, brush or wiper strips around the edges.
Draught excluders work well on inside doors, too – you can make a simple one from bags stuffed with spare material. Keep inside doors closed if they lead to an unheated room, to prevent cold air mixing with warmed air and flowing around the house. You don’t need to draught-proof inside doors between two heated rooms as energy is not lost when warm air circulates.
With age and use, floorboards and skirting boards often expand, contract, and even move slightly.
A silicon-based filler works well to block any holes – check for gaps between skirting boards and the floor, too.
Fillers block permanently, so be careful how and where you apply them and wipe away any excess before they dry. Look for flexible fillers, decorator’s caulk, or caustic-type products. Find out more in our guide to floor insulation.
Ask a professional to fit a chimney draught excluder if one wasn’t fitted during installation. Remember to remove the excluder if you light the fire. If you don’t use your fireplace, get a professional to install a cap over the chimney pot.
Silicone fillers work well for small gaps around pipes. Fill more significant gaps with expanding polyurethane foam. We have more information about insulating tanks, pipes and radiators.
Old extractor fan outlets may need to be filled with bricks or concrete blocks and then sealed from both the inside and outside.
During your checks, if you find a large crack in your wall, check with a professional for possible structural issues. Fill small cracks with cement or hard-setting fillers – apply to electrical fittings on walls and ceilings as well as ceiling-to-wall joists.
Attics and cellars can be colder than the rest of the house. Check that cold air isn’t creeping into your living space internally, too. Consider insulation if you don’t already have it.
Older buildings offer great opportunities for energy savings but come with provisos, especially if your home is listed, in a conservation area, or built before 1919. The good news is you can improve the energy efficiency of your home without compromising its historic character.
Alterations and additions to listed buildings require listed building consent from your local planning authority.
Always check before starting any work; consent is required for the building and its curtilage, or surrounding area. Curtilage can include the garden, land and other buildings associated with your home, for example, stables or the lawn. Consent is crucial for larger projects like solar panels or heat pumps, for example – you can’t simply install solar panels in the garden.
It’s a criminal offence not to seek necessary consent, and not knowing is not a viable defence. You may also require planning permission. Your local authority can advise you.
Hot air rises up and could disappear through your chimney causing you to spend unnecessary money on heating bills.
BlogDid you know that draught-proofing is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to save energy and money in your home?
BlogFrom quick fixes to professional installations, we take a look at everything you need to know about insulating your home.
Last updated: 11 January 2022
