Caulking For Change

By Mike Schiller

There are many issues where I find myself in agreement with John Kerry, and many issues where I find myself in disagreement with him. Overall, I obviously agree more with his philosophies than with Bush’s philosophies, but my views are usually much closer to those of Howard Dean’s. Then again, there are times when I find myself to left of Dean, and times when I take a position which liberals think of as conservative, but which I still consider liberal. We’re all individuals, with minds of our own, so it is rare, even within any one political party, for everyone to be of one mind about an issue.

That said, I think a very large number of liberal Democrats tend to agree on the issue of reducing our nation’s dependency on oil, gas, and electricity. There are, believe it or not, many conservatives who also support that idea as well. I believe that as individuals, we should strive to be the change we seek. What I mean by that is, to actually do things in our everyday lives which help to accomplish things we believe in. Many people think that one person doing something does not make a difference. I disagree. I understand that it is difficult for people to quantify the difference they make, but that should not deter us from doing things to help affect the changes we seek.

Today, as the northeast is being hit by the biggest blizzard so far this winter, I decided I’d write about a subject which Howard Dean and John Kerry both talked about on the campaign trail, and which I personally also feel strongly about. It’s a subject which, on the surface, doesn’t seem political, but is political. It’s also social. It’s also economic. It’s also personal. It’s a generalized thing which is simply good for your home, the environment, your own personal economy, and the world at large. I am talking about caulking and weather-stripping.

The more you do, the less gas and energy you use. If you find the places in your home where the most air seems to enter from outside (or from other parts of the home or building) and seal those off, the savings will be immediate. As you do more, there will be more savings. Caulking the places where the wall meets the ceiling, where the windows meet the frames, and where the floor meets the wall, is the best way to make sure warm air stays in the room in which it is generated. That has an immediate comfort payback, and a gradual monetary payback.

If you have radiators, make sure the pipes from the boiler to the radiators are also insulated. Those take fiberglass pipe insulators and Frost King also makes a foam pipe wrap tape lined with foil for the corners where there are twists and turns. Almost all radiators are up against a wall, and I learned a trick- Put strips of the foam pipe wrap tape along the back of the radiator to block heat from going in the direction of the wall. This ensures more heat is released to your room rather than into the wall and out of the house/apartment.

In the basement (even if you’re in an apartment building you can still go down and do this) you should also feel around for any air that seems to come in from outside and caulk over those places. Additionally, do the same thing as in your main rooms - caulk the windows and places where the wall meets floor or ceiling.

The best caulk of all is made by GE it’s called Silicone II. (That’s why this is a bipartisan thing to do, because GE is somewhat conservative but they happen to make the best caulk). Make sure not to get Silicone I, or else you’d need to re-caulk everything in a few years. Silicone II doesn’t shrink. Caulk usually costs about $5 per 10 ounces, which can add up if you have a large home, but it pays for itself- both in long term energy bill reductions, and in instant comfort, which really has no price tag. When you’re comfortable, you’re able to focus more personal energy on things you enjoy focusing it on, rather than focusing on discomfort. If you’re on a tight budget, you can try getting one or two containers of caulk per week and doing it gradually. This has a benefit during the summer as well, because it saves you money on air conditioning.

There are a lot of myths about ventilation and the need for air circulation which keep people from doing these sensible things. As long as there is one place where some air can enter a room, you should be fine. There is no need for multiple openings, contrary to what some think. There is ample air coming through unexpected places all the time, and you can still put vinyl weather-stripping foam over the most critical of those places- such as the place where the window frame meets the window sill (the parts you can’t caulk without interfering with the operation of the window) and the edges of doors.

If you have molding around your windows and door frames, you can insulate those too, believe it or not. What you use for that is called "caulk saver vinyl foam", because it’s cheaper than caulk. It is both moisture and weather resistant. You can also use caulk but it’s more difficult and costly. Drill a large hole on top of the molding, big enough for the foam, which is about 1/2" diameter usually. Then stuff the foam in, and push it in hard so it drops all the way down to the bottom of the molding. Stuff in as much foam as you possibly can, to ensure the entire molding from bottom to top, is loaded with it. Then you can use wood putty to easily re-seal the top. When the wood putty dries, paint with primer first, and when the primer dries, paint over that with whatever color you usually use. Martha Stewart Living makes really nice paints.

You can also use a beam finder to figure out where the beams are and drill holes in your walls to drop caulk saver foam in there too, using similar steps. Do not try to fill the entire wall with actual caulk, though, because the wet caulk can get on electrical wires. Caulk saver vinyl foam is much safer for inside walls, and it can easily be moved or removed if you ever install something in the wall some time in the future.

Usually, energy costs for lower income housing tend to be higher than for upper income housing. The lack of proper insulation is the primary reason. Anyone who does these things is not just making their own life better, but the lives of future tenants, and also the lives of people all over the world. Energy use, ultimately, is traceable to individual homes and buildings. Turning your lamps off for a day does not make a long term difference and barely saves you anything anyway. Even if you are not sure how many years you’ll live at a certain place, keep in mind that this type of investment has a massive overall comfort benefit which pays off immediately, and should pay for itself monetarily within one year, if not less time than that.

The first month’s monetary payback will depend more on the specific strategic places you choose to insulate or caulk, more than the amount of caulk you use. If you have access to the spaces beneath your floors, stuff them with fiberglass if they aren’t already. Fiberglass is also great for areas in the basement which are too large to be caulked. Another good trick is to look at the basement ceiling. If it’s not insulated, the heat from the boiler escapes and either causes overheating in certain rooms, forcing people to open windows and lose energy, or possibly travels through walls and escapes through the roof. It’s a good idea to insulate the basement ceiling so the heat stays in the basement. This causes the boiler to stay warm longer, which results in the boiler requiring less gas to make the water boil. Caulk also has some noise reduction benefits, and if you live in a big city, the work you do on the floors can also dramatically reduce insect and rat intrusion entry-points.

It’s important to do both the home or apartment, as well as the basement in order to achieve the balances necessary to truly reduce gas and electricity use, but these measures ultimately will create one less place on this planet where gas or electricity is recklessly and pointlessly wasted. Not only will it benefit you, but many of these things will yield benefits for others well into the future. If done properly, doing this in one home can actually result in gas and energy use reductions which are much more significant than any boycott method is able to yield, because the reductions in energy use are SUSTAINED. They’re not short term. When the work is done, these savings can last decades. One person can make a difference.

The more people learn about caulk and insulation, and act on what they learn, the better the quality of life will be for all of us, and the less dependent we are on energy and gas. Rather than boycotting energy, which is almost impossible to do, except for one day increments which have no long term impact, we should instead take proactive steps to caulk, weather-strip, and insulate our homes. This is a positive thing we as socially conscious people can do, whether we’re liberal or conservative or centrist. It helps us as individuals, as a society, and as inhabitants of an eco-system.

www.schillerpoetry.com