How to fix or reduce draughts in your building

Here are the simple ways to fix or reduce draughts:

1. Attach double-sided draught excluders or door seals to the base of your doors. Easy to install and far more effective than a ‘door snake’, these are available at your local hardware store.

  

2. Use window blinds or well-fitted thermally-backed curtains with a pelmet above them. This traps the air between the curtains and the window, helping to reduce your heating and cooling bills. In summer, as the window heats up, it also heats the air between the curtain and the window. The pelmet stops this hot air from rising and getting into your premises. In winter, the curtains and pelmet combine to keep the warm air inside.[1]

 

 

3. Seal gaps and cracks with filler and caulk. Expanding foam is good for large hollow gaps. Gap fillers and caulk are good for filling in the gaps between two surfaces such as a wall and a cornice, or a wall and a skirting board. Caulk is also useful for filling in small gaps around windows and door frames. There are a variety of available types of filler and caulk – your local hardware store can give you advice on the best solutions for your needs.^[2]

4. Fit weather sealing strips to windows and doors. Weather strips are self-adhesive polyester strips and come in a range of thicknesses. Installing them is as simple as peeling off the adhesive strip and sticking the strips to the frames of your windows and doors.

They are a cost-effective way to block the small draughts that come in via your windows and doors.

If you’re not sure what to do, use your phone to take a photo of your doors and windows and show it to a salesperson at the hardware store – they’ll advise you on the kind of weather stripping that you need.

5. Put rugs on wooden floorboards

 

 

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