As the summer temperatures rise in Hampton Roads, Va., so do the energy bills. Most homeowners just accept it as a fact of life and cringe as they write the check for a few hundred dollars. But read on to find out simple tips for saving money.
Some of the most effective ways to shrink your energy bill are the obvious: proper upkeep of your heating and cooling system, programmable thermostats, and duct systems designed to fit your needs. One of them, however, is not as well understood.
Effective ventilation also helps prevent rotting on the roof and cuts heating and cooling costs.
Before the 1970s, old homes had amazing ventilation poor insulation. Then the air conditioner was invented, and everything changed.
The invention of A/C cooling necessitated improvements in insulation to keep the cool air inside the house. At the same time, energy prices peaked in 1973 and the cost of cooling leapt skyward. But the air inside your house was unable to follow cooling costs skyward because it was trapped in your attic.
The more successful we became at insulating our houses, the less air was able to escape and exchange with fresh air from outside. Continuous attic ventilation is now the only way to get that stale air out of your house and bring in fresh air.
About 20 years ago builders began using continuous metal strips placed in the soffit to allow air from outside to enter. Even on a record day when temperatures in Virginia reach 105 degrees, continuous attic ventilation exchanges 130-degree stale air in your attic with 105-degree fresh air.
That may not sound significant, but think about the difference between keeping your thermostat on 73 degrees versus 68 degrees during the summer. Imagine what a decrease of 25 to 40 degrees in your attic could do for your energy bill.
If you have any questions about the benefits of continuous attic ventilation please contact Russell's Heating & Coolingbefore that next energy bill shows up in your mailbox.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about ventilation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Russell’s Heating & Cooling services the Chesapeake, Virginia and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!