Draughts are one of the ways that your home becomes uncomfortably hot or cold. We all put a lot of time and effort into keeping our homes and ourselves as comfortable as possible; whether that be air conditioning, heating, upgrading insulation or simply putting on that old pair of sheepskin boots when the temperature starts to drop. Often people underestimate the amount of air that enters their home through gaps and cracks around doors, windows and the many other small holes. These can add up to more than 20% of your heat loss in winter, meaning you’re running the heater more to keep up with the hot air flowing out of your home. 

Draught proofing is a simple and effective way to improve the thermal comfort of your home and increase your energy efficiency. Reducing your use of electrical appliances will also contribute to them lasting longer, meaning less overall costs and energy used.

At present, ESEC services the greater metropolitan Melbourne area. In the future, we aim to also service regional Victoria

We offer discounted Thermal Envelope Assessments to members of Earthworker (20% off) and CoPower (10% off). 

There are also a number of rebates and council subsidies that we can connect you with. Please contact us to find out your eligibility.

It depends. For very small jobs, for example a front door or a couple of chimneys, we can provide you  with a quote only. However, to do a full specification for an entire house, an assessor needs to spend a substantial amount of time inspecting it and talking to you about how you use the various spaces and your heating and cooling appliances. Once you have received the assessment report, you can decide what to do with the information and recommendations. That might be to hire ESEC to do all the work, or to try to do some of it yourself. 

You will be aware of the most obvious sources of draughts in your home and think that is all that needs to be fixed but there are bound to be more that are less obvious. Stopping one draught will have minimal effect if there are several more places for warm air to escape!

Please contact us to discuss your situation and needs.

A thermal envelope assessment includes a detailed quote for recommended work, but that’s only part of it. You will also receive a detailed report covering heating and cooling use, insulation coverage, sources of draughts and recommendations for improvements. 

A full assessment and specification for an entire house takes between 1.5 to 2 hours onsite where the assessor inspects the premises and talks to you about how you use the various spaces and your heating and cooling appliances. Once you have received the assessment report, you can decide what to do with the information and recommendations. That might be to hire ESEC to do some or all of the quoted work, or to try to do some of it yourself.

We therefore charge a fee for thermal envelope assessments to help cover the cost providing a detailed report.

Draught-proofing work varies according to the size, age and condition of your home, as well as your budget and other factors.

Common household draught-proofing measures include:

• sealing of gaps, cracks, wall vents and chimneys
• installing brush seals on the bottom of doors
• installing perimeter seals around doors
• replacing and insulating manhole covers
• zoning out of unheated rooms

You can certainly have a go. Many people do and do so successfully. However, many others DIYers find they are still uncomfortable and spending a small fortune on heating and cooling bills. This is because you need to ensure you are using the appropriate product for the relevant circumstance, and also installing it correctly. Not only that, you need to find and treat as many draught sources as possible. Our assessors are trained to locate draught sources and specify appropriate treatments and our installers are trained to apply these treatments effectively and efficiently. They are also experienced in working around problems when the usual solution isn’t possible. Older houses especially can be very challenging to draught-proof properly. 

If you’re handy with a caulking gun and don’t mind getting a bit messy, then sealing the gaps in your skirting and architraves is a good place to start. Most other jobs require power tools and precision measuring. If you live in a Victorian or Edwardian style house, we don’t recommend trying to insert your own chimney draught stoppers unless you are a contortionist and want a good ab workout. 

The main reasons people decide not to do their own draught-proofing (or decide to call in the experts after they have tried to) are convenience and effectiveness. ESEC can come and do the whole job in one go and do it well. And if something doesn’t work as well as it should, we’ll come back and fix it for you.

Yes. Some products come in different colours. For example, brush seals for the bottom of doors come in silver, bronze, gold or black. Usually, these are matched to the door handle or other door hardware. Perimeter seals for doors are generally raw timber which you can paint or stain as desired, but white aluminium is also available. Your assessor will discuss your colour options with you.

During one of our home Thermal Envelope Assessments we will assess your current ceiling insulation levels and can organise a quote from a trusted insulation installer if desired.

A worker-co-op is a business that is owned and run by the workers themselves. Each worker is allocated one equal share in the business and a single vote to make decisions democratically about how it is run. This ensures workers are rewarded for the value they produce, and have a say in how that value is produced and distributed.

ESEC is affiliated with Earthworker Cooperative Ltd. Earthworker supports and promotes the establishment of worker-cooperatives in Australia, creating empowering and secure employment and sustainable enterprise. Visit Earthworker to learn more and become a member of the cooperative movement.

If you’re interested in becoming a worker-member in our cooperative, please get in touch with us. While experience in energy efficiency and construction is desirable, training will be provided for all new employees.  There is a 6 month induction period before new workers can become full members of ESEC. We will let you know if any positions are available.