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Fill gaps to stop draughts but ventilate to prevent condensation. You don’t want draughts that lose heat and waste energy, but you do need controllable ventilation to prevent condensation that causes harmful moulds — rapid ventilation with extract fans or opening windows to dump steam, trickle ventilation through vents to prevent condensation.
- Draught strip windows with DIY brush or rubber strips or, for sliding sash windows get a specialist to fit recessed weather stripping.
- Don’t draught strip windows in rooms where there’s a boiler or a gas fire and don’t block any ventilators — to make sure there’s a supply of fresh air.
Before draught stripping …
- Use acrylic sealant or decorator’s caulk to fill external and internal gaps around window frames — take care to keep the sealant neat and smooth so that it doesn’t trap rainwater.
- Repair window frames and check that windows open easily for rapid ventilation — release any that are painted shut, replace sash cords for sliding sash windows. For upper storey windows only do this yourself if there are hinges that allow you to remove the window sashes safely, with no risk of falling.
- If there are no air vents in a room, ask a joiner to fit a trickle vent in the top or side of the window frame — but if that’s not possible, only draught strip the sides and bottom of the opening parts of the window frame.
- Have an extract fan fitted in the kitchen and bath or shower room to get rid of warm moist air — fans must vent to outside air, through a wall, window, chimney, or roof. In the kitchen, a multispeed extract over the hob is the most efficient choice. A bathroom fan should have a humidistat to turn it off automatically.
- After sealing and draught stripping, ask your heating engineer to do flue gas spillage tests to check the safety of fires and boilers.
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