Cold Air Return to Nowhere

Our first large project was to seal the cold air returns in our unfinished basement. Around each return, we applied the expandable caulk called "Great Stuff". Because we'll have so much of this type of sealing to do throughout the house, we invested in a commercial dispenser. The dispenser runs about $50 and the can of product about $10. By using the dispenser, we can control the application much easier and have less waste. The product doesn't have a lingering smell or out-gasing. It gets tacky, and then dries pretty within the hour or less.

As we worked our way across our unfinished basement, we discovered a few cold air returns left open from the floor above that didn't go into an actual return duct. Mark Loscutoff, our certified home energy rater, worked along with us to determined these had just been left open after a previous owner had done a remodel of the rooms above.

To solve this energy leak, we filled in the open spaces using Thermopan, which is a foil wrapped cardboard, the adhesive Great Stuff, and staples.




The basement area will have much more work, like special wall insulation for unfinished spaces, but we must wait for warmer temperatures.