Draught Proofing
Are you looking to reduce cold draughts in your home?
Whether you want to tackle draughty spots in your doors, windows, floorboards, skirtings, chimneys, pipes or loft hatches, we’ve compiled a range of resources below to help.
We also offer a Draught & Ventilation Survey to help you identify and locate key draught points in your home - see more details below.
Why draught proofing matters
Draughts affect our comfort, making us feel colder, even when the surrounding air temperature is warm. As air moves across our bodies it has a cooling effect, which can make us feel uncomfortable, and reach for the thermostat when we otherwise wouldn’t need to.
Draughts also allow warm air to escape our homes. Even though good ventilation is essential for healthy and comfortable living, too much warm air escaping from our home means we’re wasting energy. On a mild, still day we might not lose much, but on a cold, windy night – when we most want to be warm – it can be a bigger problem.
How do I draught proof my home?
There are lots of places where our home may leak warm air – and also where cold air sneaking in can make us feel uncomfortable, especially when we’re sitting down or stationary. These places will be different in every home, but can include any or all of the points shown in the image.
We’ve collated some of our favourite guidance on draught proofing to help you take action:
Diagram by Chimney Sheep: chimneysheep.co.uk/blogs/blog/how-do-cold-draughts-get-into-the-home
How to make sure you have enough ventilation
Good ventilation is essential for a healthy home. Sealing up your home with too much draught proofing, without ensuring enough ventilation, can create serious problems with condensation build-up and mould growth, as well as building structural problems.
We’ve collated a series of guidance to help you make sure your home stays well ventilated and healthy, as well as warm:
Draught & Ventilation Surveys
Need some help working out what’s right for your home?
If you’re wondering what to do, our Draught & Ventilation Survey is designed to help you identify and locate the main sources of air leakage and draughts in your home. It also helps you understand how well your home is currently ventilated so you can take the right action where necessary.
Cosy Homes Kits
BWCE’s Cosy Homes Kits offer small samples of common draught-proofing materials so that you can ‘try before you buy’.
You can visit our Cosy Homes Kit ‘Samples Bar’ at one of our events to compile your own kit.
Alternatively you can download our PDF product examples sheets for suggestions of the sorts of materials that can be useful for draught-proofing projects: