Duck Brand Socket Sealers - How To Install Them

One very cheap and easy way to insulate your home and prevent heat loss is to install gaskets behind the cover plates for your electrical outlets and light switches. All you need is a very inexpensive package of gaskets from any local store or online retailer. It requires no wiring or electrical expertise other than simple common sense (No touching any exposed wiring or prodding about with screwdrivers!). If you don't feel comfortable with installing them yourself, maybe your partner, wife or husband can do it for you (Trust me, I know a few women who are handy with electrical stuff!).

While shopping at my local Walmart one day, I spotted a package of Duck Brand socket sealers and purchased them for less than $3.00. Inside the box are several foam gaskets. Of them, 18 are meant for electrical outlets and 6 of them are meant for light switches.

While most homes have electrical outlets and switches in every room, we don't have to insulate all of them. We want to focus only on the outlets and switches on external walls. No, not on the outside of your house, but the outlets installed on the inside of your home that are on the perimeter walls of your house. We don't need to install gaskets on outlets that are on walls that are inside the home, since they shouldn't be leaking any air in or out of your home. If they are, having a few leaky outlets is probably the least of your problems!

Its so easy your grandmother could do it...if she wanted to! All kidding aside, it really is very simple to install the Duck Brand socket gaskets. It only takes three simple steps. First, remove the cover plate by unscrewing the screw at the center of the plate. Second, take one gasket, after first punching out the pre-cut holes, and fit it around your electrical outlets or light switch. Third, place the cover plate back over the outlets or switch and tighten the screw in the center. Its really that simple!

Well, first and foremost, these foam gaskets are sealing up your outlets and switches on the external walls of your home. Unsealed outlets and light switches are sources of air leaks. On a cold windy day, place your hand over an unsealed outlet and you'll feel cold air leaking in. By installing foam gaskets on these outlets, you can significantly reduce or eliminate these leaks, saving you money by reducing your heating bill by keeping cold air out. During the summer, these also help save you money by reducing the amount of warm air leaking into your home.