Cold Air Coming Through Wall Outlets

If you want to see just how much cold air is entering your house through an electrical outlet hold a paper tissue over one to check.

Cold air coming through wall outlets.

Most people notice this in the winter when cold air blows through a wall outlet on an exterior wall. Hole in your ceiling. Even in newer homes where building inspectors generally enforce fire codes that require those holes to be air sealed attic air still gets into the wall from the gap. Air infiltration occurs when outside air finds its way inside your house.

If the tissue flaps or moves around it is because there is a draft coming through the outlet. Cold weather will be here soon and the wind will be blowing cold air through outlets again. Remove the cover of all the electrical outlets that are on outside walls. And on walls where there is no insulation or insufficient insulation cold air circulating inside the wall finds a perfect pathway into living.

Or in the summer when the hot 100 f air finds its way into your cool inside living space. What you dont feel is the warm moist air leaving your hose thru the outlets and switches on the negative side carrying warm air and moisture vapor. Sometimes especially in older homes and on exterior walls light switch boxes and electrical outlets can let in outside air if they are not insulated properly according to the u s. In older homes those holes weren t sealed.

It s winter and your home is closed up tight to keep out the cold air but you still feel a draft. Where could it be coming from. Turn off the central power to your home. Gap around just six ceiling boxes is the equivalent of cutting a 4 in.

You can expect higher heating and cooling bills if you have a lot of air infiltrating into your home. The reason for this is simple. While it s still just cool weather this is a good time to stock up on supplies before the prices jump and stores run out of them. Even if a wall or ceiling is sufficiently insulated the insulation may have been cut away to make room for the electrical boxes which means these spots become conduits for cold air to pass through from the outside.

When you combine that with the. Electrical outlets fitted to an outside wall can allow cold air to leak into your home so you need to stop it. When that moisture vapor gets into the stud cavity the vapor turns to water ice dependent on the wall cavity temperature and condenses on the first surface that allows it. Keep the cold air from coming in through your electrical outlets.

Because the wires that came to that switch or outlet probably came through holes drilled through the top or bottom of that wall. The small air gaps around electrical boxes on exterior walls and ceilings leak more air than you might imagine. Think of the amount of heat you d lose.