A free Issaquah class will help those with drafty homes save their heat and some cash.

The average home loses about 30 percent of its heat through preventable leaks that many homeowners can learn to fix themselves, said Brad Liljequist, manager of the ZHomes project and the class.

“It’s not necessarily about savings, it’s also about comfort. In a drafty house, even if you have the heat cranked on, you’re still never going to feel warm enough,” he said.

Organized by the city and paid for by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the free Home Energy Retrofits course is Feb. 5 and 6.

An Issaquah couple volunteered their home for the class, and students will see in-person where to look for leaks and how to fix them.

The biggest fix is usually found in the crawl space of the home. It’s not uncommon to have an inch-wide gap in the duct work.

That inch-gap means that for many homeowners, moldy and cold crawl-space air is often sucked up into their houses.

The fix is simple, a tub of mastic and an afternoon of work, he said.

The instructor plans to demonstrate the leaks by putting a giant fan in front of the home. Students follow the smoke from incense sticks to see the leaks.

“The other big thing, heating homes is a very significant part of climate change,” Liljequist said, adding that 40 percent of energy consumption is for buildings.

“You may not care about money so much, but you care about climate change, because it’s the whole earth.”

Most of the retrofit work was done by Vesta Home Performance, and the class will be taught by Gary Wood of Applied Performance Technologies.

To sign up for the class, call 425-837-3402.

Energy Retrofit Class

– 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., Feb. 5

– 11 a.m., and 1 p.m., Feb. 6

– To join the class call 425-837-3402 or e-mail Rco@ci.issaquah.wa.us.