Homes burn through 21% of the energy used in the United States. A lot of that energy is spent heating and cooling your house. Unfortunately, much of that energy is also spent heating and cooling your backyard and front porch through leaks and holes in your building envelope. Often overlooked by traditional contractors, effective air sealing utilizing a building sciences approach has a greater impact on the energy efficiency of your home than any other investment you can make !

Although some of the air leaks in your home are visible to the untrained eye — around old and untreated doors and windows, for example — much of the average home's air leakage takes place in areas you don't see. A lot of it takes place because of something called the stack effect, or chimney effect, which works like this: cold air infiltrates your crawlspace or basement through leaks and cracks in the foundation and walls, and begins rising. It works its way up through the floors and walls, then up into your attic through structural defects, holes in your ceiling, recessed lighting, leaky duct work, the furnace flue, the plumbing stack, or a poorly sealed attic floor. A home performance contractor doing air sealing work in your home will generally focus on the attic floor and the foundation of the home in order to minimize the stack effect, and thus minimize unwanted air movement throughout your home.

Perhaps equally important, air sealing is crucial for maximizing the performance of insulation, the other major component of your home's building envelope. The R-Value of insulation is determined under the assumption that there will be no air infiltration throughout the insulation — it assumes that there will be adequate air sealing around the insulation. Once insulation is left exposed to air movement (air moving up through your attic floor, for example), R-Value decreases. In addition, Ice Dams on roofs and condensation inside of attics cause millions of dollars in damage to Illinois homes every year. These problems are the direct result of inadequate air sealing, insulation, and ventilation.

If you do some serious air sealing work, you can expect to net about $600.00 in annual energy savings. In addition, because the materials are relatively inexpensive, and because much of the most important work takes place in the attic and around the foundation of the home (where you don't have to worry about fancy trim or replacing drywall), the upfront cost is usually pretty low. For more information on Air Sealing from the Department of Energy, see 

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  • Leslie DiMaggio, Fox River Grove, IL

    I want to tell you that we are COMPLETELY satisfied with the work you guys did at the house... The house definitely feels cooler. We know you guys made an extra effort with us and also gave us a great price. We love you guys!!!!!!!! I have already recommended you to three people. Thanks!

  • Nina Brakel, Park Ridge, IL

    We LOVE the new windows. I can't believe what a difference it has made in the house - it is soooooo peaceful upstairs now. And, the outside of the house looks new! Thank you! And, you were great to work with - thank you. Gregg and I both commented on your professionalism and knowledge.

  • Toby Trabert, Oak Park, IL

    I own a Victorian style home that desperately needed insulation. I hired Energy360 Solutions and they discovered major air leakage through the many nooks and crannies of my attic.

  • Scott Gillis, Woodridge, IL

    My home was uncomfortable. It was so difficult to keep it warm in the winter and there was no sound barrier. We could hear everything that was going on outside. We needed insulation and called Energy360 Solutions. They provided us with a great solution using dense packed Cellulose insulation.

  • The Holzl Family, Mt Prospect, IL

    After 14 years of living in our house, and suffering each winter in our chilly family room built over a crawlspace, we hired Energy360 Solutions to perform an energy audit of our entire house. One of their findings was that we were losing heat out of the wall joists of the crawlspace.

  • Ken & Julie K., Mt Prospect, IL

    Our first ever energy audit from Energy360 solutions was a very exciting and interactive experience. We learned so much about the energy efficiencies of our home or better said the lack of efficiencies.

  • Mark Hoffmeister, Mt Prospect, IL

    Our home was sealed and insulated in March 2014. The results were immediate. The house air conditioning was improved especially in the upper floors. This cold winter comfort improvement in heating the house was successful.