The trick is catching those leaks quickly, before they chill your home and your mood.
It starts on a Tuesday that feels like a Sunday. The kettle hums, the hallway bites, and you feel that odd ribbon of cold on your ankles as you pass the front door. You tap the radiator — hot — yet the room never quite settles, a stubborn edge of winter lingering in the skirting. Your breath fogs the window, just for a second. You cup your hand near the letterbox and a fine current brushes your knuckles, like the room is quietly exhaling into the street. You tilt your head and listen. The house answers in whispers. Something’s stealing your heat.
Spot the invisible: the 20-minute heat-loss sweep
Heat loss often hides in plain sight. Short of ripping up floors, the fastest way to catch it is a **20‑minute heat-loss check** when the house is warm and the outside air is crisp. Turn your heating up for ten minutes, let rooms reach a clear “warm baseline”, then switch it off. Walk slowly. Feel for moving air at windows, doors, the loft hatch, and along skirting. Stand still and notice temperature shifts on your face. The clues are small. The story they tell is big.
In Leeds, a couple tried this sweep on a blustery evening. Within minutes they found a draught tracing the line of the hallway floor, then another breathing through a tired letterbox flap. Two foam strips and a brush seal later, their living room stopped yo-yoing between cosy and cold. The Energy Saving Trust says around a third of heat goes through walls and roughly a quarter through the roof, yet the quickest wins often start with **draught hotspots**. You can’t fix a wall today. You can tame a gap before the kettle boils twice.
Why these small currents matter: moving air strips warmth from your skin and your rooms. Warm air is buoyant; as it escapes up high, cooler air gets sucked in low — the **stack effect** in action. A leaky front door pulls cold through the hall, which robs heat from the lounge, which makes the boiler work harder for a comfort that never sticks. Warm always chases cold, and openings make the path easy. Catch the openings, and the whole house calms down.
Your fast-track checks: room by room in minutes
Grab a tea-light or an incense stick and do the “smoke dance”. Hold the flame or smoke line near window frames, keyholes, and door edges. Watch for a tremble or a sideways pull. Use the back of your hand — it’s more sensitive — to sweep along skirting and sockets on outside walls. Open and close trickle vents to test their bite. Peek at the loft hatch for a tell-tale cold halo. If you’ve a fireplace, place your hand a foot in front: moving air will kiss your palm.
People often miss the little culprits: the gap under the front door, a warped uPVC seal, the bathroom extractor flapping backwards, the cat flap that never quite shuts. Don’t block permanent ventilation for gas appliances, and don’t tape over the only fresh-air path in a small bathroom. Balance is the goal: reduce uncontrolled leaks while keeping safe air changes. Let’s be honest: nobody actually does that every day. Today is the day you do it once, properly.
A good auditor once told me their mantra: find the breeze, fix the breeze, then the boiler breathes easier.
“Air is lazy — it follows the easiest route. Your job is to make the easy route the warm one.”
- Roll a towel into a temporary “snake” for the draught under a door.
- Stick self-adhesive foam to a leaky window frame; trim with scissors, done in minutes.
- Pop a brush cover on the letterbox; keyhole cover on the front door for pennies.
- Close curtains at dusk; tuck them behind radiators so you don’t trap heat against cold glass.
- Click trickle vents to “part-open” at night, then “open” in the morning to clear moisture.
What your quick audit tells you, and what to do next
The sweep maps where your home “breathes” without your consent. You’ll feel which doors tug hardest, which windows sigh with a thin chill, which vents behave like chimneys on a windy day. Turn those notes into simple tweaks. Foam strip today. Brush seal tomorrow. A clip-on flap for the cat door this weekend. Share a photo of your candle test with a neighbour and swap tips on the street. We’ve all lived that moment when the living room finally feels still, and you don’t know why. Now you do. Small rituals, less shiver, more quiet warmth.
| Point clé | Détail | Intérêt pour le lecteur |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up, then walk | Heat the house for 10 minutes, switch off, trace draughts while gradients are clear | Finds leaks fast when contrasts are strongest |
| Focus on edges | Test frames, skirting, hatches, flaps, vents, and sockets on external walls | Targets the most common escape routes first |
| Fix the simple wins | Foam strip, brush seals, door snakes, curtains, trickle-vent tuning | Low-cost changes that you can do today for instant comfort |
FAQ :
- Can I do this without any tools?Yes. Use the back of your hand, a lit tea-light or incense stick, and a phone torch. Paper-thin gaps show up when the flame flickers or smoke bends.
- Is the smoke or candle test safe indoors?Keep flames clear of curtains and shelves, and place them in a stable holder. Crack a window after, and never test near gas hobs or where fumes might build.
- Will this help with condensation and mould?Reducing draughts warms surfaces, which can cut condensation. Keep purposeful ventilation — especially in kitchens and bathrooms — to remove moisture.
- I’m renting. What can I do that’s reversible?Self-adhesive foam strips, removable door snakes, keyhole covers, clip-on letterbox brushes, thermal curtains, and window film are all landlord-friendly and quick to remove.
- When should I call a professional?If you’ve fixed the obvious gaps and rooms still swing wildly, or you have persistent damp, open-flue appliances, or confusing bills. A blower-door test or thermal survey gives a detailed heat map of your home.
