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When the weather turns cold, many homeowners start making preparations. When they begin to experience chilly drafts in their home, then they start thinking about their insulation. However, proper insulation is important not only during the cold winter, but also during the heat of summer. It can provide an effective barrier against outdoor temperatures. During the winter, it helps keep cold air from entering your home. When summer comes, it can help keep the heat out.
Of course, it’s not hard to forget about your home’s insulation. This is especially true because insulation is hidden in the attic or behind walls. You know the old adage, “out of sight, out of mind”. It’s much more than a catch phrase in this situation. An attic that has been properly insulated will ensure that the home’s cooling system is protected. It does this by minimizing the amount of wear and tear that is placed on the HVAC equipment. AC and heater equipment work harder when insulation is insufficient. With good insulation, your A/C certainly won’t have to do as much cooling. Spring is a great time to assess the amount of insulation in your attic. Make sure that there is enough to keep it cool during the long hot summer months.
When your attic isn’t properly insulated, you’re just wasting money. You might question why insulate a part of your home that is not used or is only used for storage. The answer is quite simple. Proper ventilation and sufficient insulation are key factors in controlling temperature and moisture levels in your home. This is true regardless of the season.
Heating and cooling your home generally account for approximately half of the energy used in your home. Heated and cooled air escapes through your attic. Therefore, you need to make sure that your attic is properly insulated. You need to check the condition of your insulation. Make sure you have the correct R-Value for your area. If necessary, upgrade accordingly. In many homes, the amount of heated or air conditioned air that escapes through the attic can be as high as 20%. When you upgrade or add to your attic’s insulation, it can help reduce energy costs.
If you want to know if you have sufficient insulation in your attic, you’ll need to check your current insulation for its R-Value. The R-Vale is a measurement of the insulation’s ability to resist heat transfer. You can go up into your attic and check your insulation’s R-Value yourself. However, heating and cooling professionals, who work with insulation on a daily basis, will be able to easily determine this for you. The R-Value of your insulation can decrease if the insulation is old, sparse or even missing in some places.
You should have insulation in your attic with a minimum R-Value rating of 30. If your attic has insulation that is blown-in, then it needs to be a minimum of 8.5 inches covering the floor of your attic. R-Value is a cumulative measure. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to install new insulation right over your existing insulation. When you add new insulation, make sure that you also reinforce the insulation around windows, attic doors, and any other openings.
At the same time that you are evaluating your current insulation, be sure to inspect your home’s ductwork. Consider wrapping your ducts when they are not wrapped with insulation. This helps with reducing loss from your air conditioner and heating system.
When you perform these simple measures, you’ll be able to significantly reduce your home’s energy bills during both the summer as well as the winter. Additionally, you’ll get even more benefit from taking these steps because your HVAC system will not have to work so hard. This can help ensure maximum life expectancy from your equipment. This is another excellent way to save money. Of course, it can also reduce unnecessary repairs. If you’re ready to go above these measures, schedule an annual air conditioning tune up for your HVAC system. This is an important part of air conditioner maintenance.
When you need air conditioning services or heating services, be sure to call the professionals at Ace-Robbins. Our HVAC contractors are certified and therefore, have the skills that are required to make your home more energy efficient and comfortable. Be sure to give us a call today to discuss your home heating or cooling needs with one of our specialists.
We service Dallas PA 18612, Duryea PA 18642, Kingston PA 18704, Lehman PA 18627, Luzerne PA 18709, Pittston PA 18640, Plymouth PA 18651, Shavertown PA 18708, Wilkes Barre PA 18701, Wyoming PA 18644, and surrounding areas.
Contact us today or give us a call at (570) 836-3232 if you have any questions.
The cold weather seasons is fast approaching and many people start thinking about getting heating maintenance performed on their heaters. The top two concerns that consumers have are boosting the overall efficiency of their heating systems and making sure that this important equipment doesn’t break down when they need it most.
If you want your home heating equipment to work at an optimal levels and with minimal risk of breaking down, you need to be proactive about meeting these targets. Ace-Robbins, a professional company who specializes in HVAC repairs as well as propane and heating oil delivery, shares some insight on this topic. Following are a few, simple tips to help you get your home heating system winter-ready.
Throughout the cold months of winter, heated air is a very valuable commodity and thus, you don’t want to lose any of it. As such, it’s important to seal off all air leaks. There are a number of areas throughout the home that are likely to leak warm air. Among these are the window and door frames, spaces around your window AC systems,and baseboards and dryer vents that lead outdoors. Caulking can be used to seal all cracks and gaps around window frames and doors. For the best results, make sure to use a thin plastic film to seal your windows and use double-sided tape to tape this film down. You can easily remove it once summer arrives.
Ceiling fans are designed to move air all around rooms. Throughout the months of summer, fans are set to rotate in such a fashion that air is pulled up towards the ceiling. Given that cold air is denser than air that is warm, cool air is being pulled by the fan up from the ground, which has a cooling effect on the room overall. When the weather is cold, however, you will want to get the opposite effect which is accomplished by changing the direction of your fan. This will in turn, push the warm air down.
Insulation works to keep warm air inside. This helps a lot in terms of keeping your house efficient. As per the Energy Star program guidelines, the attic in your home should have about 12 to 15 inches of good insulation. If you currently have less than this amount, it’s important to add more insulation in. Insulating the average home is a fairly inexpensive endeavor. Moreover, it will usually take just several hours to get the insulating material installed.
Your indoor temperature doesn’t have to be at an optimal level at all times. For example, when people are out of the home for the day, the indoor temperature should be a bit lower. During the night, you will have your covers to keep you warm and thus, your indoor temperature can be a bit lower during the night hours as well. You can use a programmable thermostat to automatically adjust temperature settings throughout different periods of the day in order to cut your energy spending. When getting your home winter-ready, think about installing a programmable thermostat as this device can help you save a considerable amount of cash.
It takes a lot of energy to heat water and this means that you should never waste this heat. You can prevent heat waste by insulating the tank for your water heater. You should also insulate your hot water pipes so that heat isn’t lost from these either.
When winter arrives, you can give your furnace or heat pump a tune-up by hiring a reputable heating technician. This will boost the overall performance and efficiency of your heating equipment. Any small-sized issues or issues that are just developing can be repaired as well, so that your heating system doesn’t break down during the winter months.
In addition to scheduling a heating system tune-up, you should make an appointment to have your heating oil tank refilled or your propane tank refilled. This is also true for any propane tanks that you own. Make sure to call a reliable fuel delivery company that can deliver high-quality propane or oil for all your winter heating needs.
As a homeowner, you can certainly be want to be proactive. When you follow the above steps, you will reduce your home heating costs. As an added benefit, your home will hold in the heat and feel more comfortable. Be sure to schedule your annual heating system tune-up with a reputable and skilled HVAC company.
Ace-Robbins specializes in exceptional HVAC services. We also deliver propane and offer heating oil delivery. Be sure to contact us for all of your home heating needs. We have been in business since 1961 and since then, we have been providing quality services at affordable prices.
We service Kingston PA 18704, Luzerne PA 18709, Plymouth PA 18651, Wilkes-Barre PA 18701, Wyoming PA 18644 Chinchilla PA 18410, Clarks Summit PA 18411, Dickson City PA 18519, Elmhurst PA 18416, Moosic PA 18507, Old Forge PA 18518, Olyphant PA 18447, Peckville PA 18452, Scranton PA 18501, Taylor PA 18517 and all surrounding areas.
Contact us today or give us a call at (570) 836-3232 if you have any questions.
