Don't believe me? I wasn't so sure about it either, but then I saw the leaky cold air on the thermal cam, and felt the cold air it when I put my hand on an outlet. The phone jack ones are the worst!
How do you do this?
Well, this is what I did -- Open up the switch plate and look at your outlet. If they are anything like mine you are going to see a gap between the electrical box and drywall. This is where cold or hot air can infiltrate and make our heating and cooling costs go up. Check out the left side of this outlet box. Can you see the hole down the side? It was blowing cold northern air right on through. This is where I used the silicone caulk to fill in and seal these gaps. I go all the way around and go over the screws with 100% silicone caulk. Next I hold my hand up and go around to see if I can feel any more leaks.
After that you put on outlet switch sealer. This is a thin fire resistant electrical box cover. They come in outlet or switch formation. I haven't found them in multiples yet, so sometimes you have to jimmy them to do doubles or triples. There are some examples down below. i got these at True Value. So take out your cover and shimmy it backward towards the electrical box. Get it on good and tight or you will have a hard time getting the face plate back on. Watch that you don't squish the silicone onto your hands.
Now make sure the foam holes line up with the electrical box screw holes and put the face plate back on and screw it in. Besides an odor for a little while, it really isn't so bad. Please make sure you aren't in a totally enclosed area and check that all your caulking is fire rated so you don't burn down your house. Silicone doesn't fire up until 1000 degrees F so if my house gets that hot I think I will have bigger problems. As always, keep all your receipts for these projects. You might be able to get back some money from your state or federal government.
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