Archive for the ‘Insulation’ Category

Everyone wants to get the most for their money these days. Cars with the highest MPG, grocery store loyalty cards, coupon clipping, shopping the sales…But what about your home? Are you getting the most bang for your buck? Find out with a home energy audit. An energy audit measures the resistance to heat flow of your walls, ceilings, doors, floors, windows, and skylights. Heat naturally flows toward cooler temperatures. In the summer heat flows from outside to the air conditioned inside, and in the winter heat flows toward upstairs rooms and ultimately the attic. A higher resistance to heat flow means your home is properly insulated to prevent this from happening, or to greatly reduce it. With proper resistance to heat flow, your HVAC system does not need to work as hard.
Your home energy audit will include a written report estimating energy use based on local climate conditions, thermostat settings, roof overhang, and solar positioning and reveals the energy usage for any given time, as well as suggest improvements. If you have your billing statements handy for this chosen time period, you can improve the accuracy of these estimates as they have the total usage of energy your house consumes. The audit may also include a homeowner interview to see what your personal patterns are and can give you suggestions to better use your HVAC system. It may seem like a large upfront cost, the few hundred dollars for the estimate and then implementing the suggested changes to your home, but you will see a decrease in your heating and air conditioning bills that over time will cover the costs and then some.

As I get older and start looking into buying my own home, I have begun researching what I want in a house. While I prefer the older, more classic looking houses, modern looking houses are all the rage right now. The easiest way to modernize a house is with a flat roof. But before taking this step to give your home a modern appearance, look at the climate you live in. Flat roofs are slightly pitched to rain water and debris can roll off, but in a part of the country that rains a lot, that is not enough of a pitch. The water can wear away at the roof and cause it to sag, retaining water. In the more arid parts of the country, they are just impractical. A steeper pitch creates more attic space, which creates more room for hot air to rise up out of your living spaces. Just don’t forget the insulation. It will keep out the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer! Living in Houston, this is especially important to me. Our summers are scorching and our winters are mild, sometimes edging into warm. Giving all that hot air a place to go helps cool the house without the use of the air conditioner, saving energy and money! Whether you’re buying, building, or renovating, keep your climate in mind. Whoever thought architecture could help you become more energy efficient? I know I had no idea!

Although I primarily write this blog to share ideas on how to reduce your utility bills through purchasing, installing, and properly maintaining high efficiency heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, it is critical to remember that your house may be wasting all that efficiency!  

Sealing leaks around windows and doors, and improving your homes insulation are critical to your comfort and how long your HVAC systems have to run to keep you cool or warm.  Consider that most homes built before 1980 leak 20-30% more air than today’s homes.   And that’s just the start!   Most HVAC ductwork eventually leaks…this can account for up to a 30% loss in the amount of conditioned air making it into your living space.  

If your in the market to replace your HVAC systems…certainly ask for a high efficiency system…but while your doing this also have your home checked for proper levels of insulation and to seal any air leaks.   For more information check out this website from the Department of Energy.