The holidays are fast approaching, which means we're spending a lot more time in the kitchen. Baking cookies is not as fun when there is a cold draft coming from up above. Our recessed lights (and we have a lot of them) were installed with a housing that allowed cold air to blow in from the attic.
See that gaping hole? Air was just streaming through from above. A few Google search terms later, and here's what we came up with.
We checked that this type of 'air-tight' trim kit was okay for our type of recessed light (ours are IC rated). Here's a side by side comparison of the old trim (a sort of bowler hat shape), and our new witch hat trim. As you can see, the hole on the top is much smaller in the air-tight trim.
Replacing the trim kit was as easy as unscrewing the light, unsnapping the old trim out, and clipping the new trim into place. Just in case, we did turn off the power to the lights before we started.
Here's the view from beneath--no big air gap!
All there was left to do was to replace the light bulbs. We've been replacing our light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs in our recessed lights, so that should help with the utility bill, too! Is the cold weather prompting you to tackle any weatherizing projects, large or small?
As you know, the weather is slightly more of a factor up here, and as a matter of fact, I did tackle a weather-related project today. Hubby bought some expanding foam to insulate the dryer vent exhaust. While I was attempting to prepare the area, I made the mistake of moving the dryer out and discovered 7.5 years' worth of lint, spilled laundry soap, toothbrushes, elastics, bobby pins, barrettes, etc. I found a pair of socks and 5 odd socks.
ReplyDeleteIt took a good half hour to clean the floor under the washer and dryer and dust the pipes, vent and the front, back and sides of the machines.
I finally cleaned everything and was ready to foam the exhaust vent opening and I'm sure it will make the back hall warmer. I could see right outside before I put the foam in.
Later in the day, I went into the laundry room and stood there for a minute to enjoy the cleanliness, even though it is completely invisible.
ah, so that is where the socks go!
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