You can become an energy efficiency sleuth by searching for air leaks around your house.

Many houses are filled with little holes and crevices that leak air into your home. Cold air coming during the winter will make you want to turn up the heat.  So why not just stay warm by fixing the air leaks around the house.

But before you fix them, you will have to find them. Do some detective work like Cypher. Here is a neat energy efficiency activity for kids that will help you become an Energy Efficiency Super Sleuth. Get Mom and Dad on the team now.

What you Need

• Pen
• Paper
• Stepladder
• Your mom or dad with a lit incense stick

What to Do

• Take a walk around the house to inspect all the little nooks and crannies that let air through. On a cold, windy day, you’ll be able to feel cold drafts, particularly around doors and windows, but you can also feel cool air in other drafty spots, such as near electrical outlets on outside walls.
• Sometimes, you can even see air leaks in moist or damp areas. If ice is forming on the floor or wall near a door or a window, then you know you’ve probably got a serious hole somewhere in the envelope of your house.
• Ask your parent to hold a lit incense stick next to potentially drafty spots where there is a possible air path to the outside. If the smoke stream from the incense stick starts blowing sideways instead of straight up, then you have located an air leak that needs to be sealed.
• Use a step ladder to inspect the ceilings and tall windows.
• Make a complete list of all the air leaks you find around the house so that your parents can fix them.

Look for the items on this Energy Sleuth checklist:

•    Doors
•    Window frames
•    Ceiling fixtures
•    Electrical outlets and switches
•    Attic hatch
•    Door frames
•    Plumbing fixtures
•    Chimney flashing

This picture shows areas where air leaks into and out of most homes.

Sources of Air Leaks in Your Home
Areas that leak air into and out of your home cost you lots of money. Check the areas listed below.

Image credit:  http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/air_leaks.html

Once you have detected the culprits, click on these links to figure out how to fix them: