If your home is not ready for the cold weather, you will find yourself paying higher and higher energy costs as you try to keep warm. If you have noticed your costs rising in recent months, you may have energy leaks that you simply can’t detect with the naked eye. The best way to identify and fix these spots is with the help of a professional energy evaluation.
When an energy auditor gets to your home, you should talk to them about specific comfort issues you have been having. Warm or cool patches, steadily rising energy costs, anything that will help them understand what you are experiencing so they can be sure to address those particular problems.
They will inspect both the inside and outside of your home while looking for areas that commonly cause energy loss. Afterwards, they will perform tests to conclusively identify problematic areas. One such test is the blower door test. This involves mounting a large fan to the doorframe of a door that leads outside and then turning it on so that the air pressure drops quickly inside your house. This will cause outside air to seep in from the outside. Using a smoke pencil, you will be able to actually see these leaks infiltrating into your home.
Thermographic scans are useful as well. They utilize infrared video to find spots in your house that are warmer or cooler that other spots, a common indication that more insulation is required.
Your auditor will help you by providing specific solutions that will help you home become more energy efficient. These will not be life-altering suggestions and most are very affordable. For example, a common suggestion is to use duct mastic to seal your air ducts that are allowing conditioned air to escape before it reaches your supply vents. Weatherstripping and plastic insulation can also help with keeping cold air out and warm air in.
For more information about energy evaluations, contact Russell’s Heating and Coolingtoday. Our friendly experts can address all of your HVAC needs.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
Russell’s Heating & Cooling services the Chesapeake, Virginia and the surrounding areas. Visit our websiteto see our special offers and get started today!
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