I have purchased 5 tubes of silicone for sealing all air gaps in my home around light fittings, socket's and switches. Is it just a case of filling all small gaps with silicone making sure to keep well away from the actual connection points of Earth,live and nutral.
Sealing air leaks around sockets/switches
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Silicone is an insulator, so that's not a worry.
What is a worry is that, should you need to remove any of the sockets, etc it will make a right royal mess.
There shouldn't be any gaps. Why not use a decent filler and rub it smooth?
What is a worry is that, should you need to remove any of the sockets, etc it will make a right royal mess.
There shouldn't be any gaps. Why not use a decent filler and rub it smooth?
...
Once fully cured it is an insulator, BUT...
... this is not an issue for the OP, since he steered clear of the electrical parts/connections but, as a warning to others .... although good insulators when fully cured, standard silicone sealants 'as applied' contain enough acetic acid to (as I know to my cost!) make them conductive enough to trip RCDs, sometimes for a few days, until the curing process is complete.
Specialist silicone sealants which can be applied directly to live electrical parts do exist, but are not very common.
Not only that but, since silicone is not paintable, it could well look 'a right royal mess' even before the need to remove sockets arises.
Kind Regards, John
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I had the same experience as John.
Also wonder what the motive is. You will have to open the window vents instead as the air in a room must get replaced.
Also wonder what the motive is. You will have to open the window vents instead as the air in a room must get replaced.
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Deleted. Double post for some reason.
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I had assumed the op meant he was intending to seal around flush back boxes, rather than the faceplates.
Such as any gaps round plasterboard, and the cable entries, and any fixing holes, and the like.
Is this not the case then?
Yes, inside where the cable comes down the conduit. There's a serious amount of heat loss throughout a house through sockets, light fittings and switches. Also all around the base of the room one looses heat through air gaps under and above skirting boards. I have a large house and when the heating gets turned off, the house can loose hear quickly. I've upgraded some of my insulation, will be getting the walls pumped but I also want to seal any heat lose through air gaps as mentioned above. I do understand one needs some sort of air exchange however I have vents in my window that can be opened or closed for this.
Given the strength of your statement, are you able to quantify those losses, even if only very roughly?
Kind Regards, John
Subconsciously I can feel it. As soon as I turn the heating off of it's been on for a few hours, the house becomes cold very quickly. That's enough to tell me there's heat losses. I've researched it for over a year and also been in similar houses that where upgraded with better insulation plus done what I'm going to do and the heat stays in alot longer!
I know I can get the house air tested however I was hoping to do all this work then get it tested.
That may be true, but it's hardly a reason for asserting (or even thinking) that the reason is that there are "serious losses through sockets, light fittings and switches", is it?
Indeed so, there obviously must be appreciable heat losses - but, again, it's a massive jump from that to a belief that the losses are "through sockets, light fittings and switches", which I would imagine would be an explanation for only a tiny fraction of the total losses.
With 'better insulation', undoubtedly (there is always scope for reducing losses by improving insulation, no matter how good it already is), but I seriously doubt that "what you're doing" (with the silicone) will make any noticeable difference.
Kind Regards, John
If the answer matters to you, you would never know whether what you are doing with your silicone is making any measurable difference unless you had testing done before and after the 'siliconing' (and nothing else) had been done.
... but if you did anything else at the same time (like improving insulation), I'm sure that the effects of your silicone would fade into total insignificance in comparison with the effects of virtually any other measures.
Kind Regards, John
As far as I know it is standard practice to seal round electrical back boxes, and gaps under skirting boards, before performing an air test - if you are determined for it to pass.
I have seen this done with intumescent sealer, though I don't know the rules on that.
I have seen this done with intumescent sealer, though I don't know the rules on that.
John, can I ask do you know what your talking about or is it just guess work? Why do you think they seal up all air gaps in air tight houses. All sockets, light fittings, joints in floors ceilings etc.. are taped up with air tight tape. It's to stop heat escaping through drafhts.
An example of this is, get yourself 2 balloons. Blow them both up however before you do this, get a little pin and in one ballon prick 50 little holes in one. Now blow them up and watch one lose air atba fast rate. Well this is your heat escaping from your home. My hard earned money I pay for fuel is leaking heat out of every little hole, crack , window gaps etc.. it's in my best interest to seal these up.
I have a potential 100 air leaks through my sockets, light fittings, switch's in my home. Alot of air leaks. When the house is getting fully heated on a windy cold night, if one puts their hand over these, you can feel an air draft. For the sake of a few tubs of silicone, it would be nice to keep this heat in the home.
An example of this is, get yourself 2 balloons. Blow them both up however before you do this, get a little pin and in one ballon prick 50 little holes in one. Now blow them up and watch one lose air atba fast rate. Well this is your heat escaping from your home. My hard earned money I pay for fuel is leaking heat out of every little hole, crack , window gaps etc.. it's in my best interest to seal these up.
I have a potential 100 air leaks through my sockets, light fittings, switch's in my home. Alot of air leaks. When the house is getting fully heated on a windy cold night, if one puts their hand over these, you can feel an air draft. For the sake of a few tubs of silicone, it would be nice to keep this heat in the home.
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