When trying to make a home more energy-efficient, the attic is often the first place homeowners try to improve. An energy-efficient attic allows home...
When trying to make a home more energy-efficient, the attic is often the first place homeowners try to improve. An energy-efficient attic allows homeowners to save money on heating and cooling a home, and will enable them to live more comfortably at a temperature that they find desirable.
Guns N Hoses offers insulation installation services that utilize thermal imaging technology to help improve your home’s energy efficiency. If your home and attic are not energy-efficient and you require new ventilation or insulation, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Seal All Air Leaks
When outside air leaks into your home, it can affect the tempered air that is keeping your home energy-efficient. To avoid this issue and further problems with unwanted moisture build-up that can cause structural damage to your home, it is essential to ensure that all air leaks in your home are sealed properly, including in your attic.
Common places in your attic that can be susceptible to air leaks include:
- Around the plumbing stack and any other pipes.
- Around wires or ceiling light fixtures that penetrate the attic floor and partition and exterior wall top plates.
- Around ducting that enters the attic from inside the house.
- At the junction of the ceiling and interior wall partitions.
- At the top of interior and exterior walls.
- Around attic hatches.
- Around the chimney.
Keep Your Attic Well Ventilated
Keeping your attic as cool as possible through ventilation is important for energy efficiency in your home. Attic vents allow air to flow in and out of your house at the right volume and deter any build-up of heat that will lead to less efficient energy use. Proper ventilation in your attic reduces summer heat build-up without the overuse of air conditioning and will also prolong the life of your home’s roofing.
The placement of your vent should prevent any outside weather from breaching your home as to keep your belongings and insulation free from damage due to moisture.
At Guns N Hoses, we provide and install solar attic vents which will connect your attic to the outside air. These vents use solar power to pull hot air out of your attic and cycle in fresh, cool air.
Ensure You Have Adequate Insulation
Having insulation that is properly installed and in good condition in your attic can help make your home more energy-efficient during any season of the year. With a properly insulated attic, you will use less energy to heat or cool down your home.
In the warmer months of the year, insulation in your attic provides you with protection from heat being transferred into your home through its roof.
During the winter, insulation creates a thermal barrier that will prevent your home from losing heat through its roof. Without an established thermal barrier, ice dams can potentially be created on the outside of your house.
Ice dams are created by snow or ice melting on your roof due to an overly warm attic. The liquid created from the snow or ice melting eventually trickles down your roof and refreezes on the edges and gutters of your home, potentially causing leaks in your attic.
Guns N Hoses provides a thermal imaging service that will capture infrared energy transfers in a palette where warmer objects appear brighter and cooler objects appear darker. This allows us to see where insulation may need to be replaced. If your home needs new insulation, Guns N Hoses offers full insulation installation services.
Add Radiant Barriers to Your Attic
Radiant barriers are a special type of insulation that is designed to reflect heat back into the area in which they are installed.
If you live somewhere that experiences very hot summers, you can line the underside of your roof with a radiant barrier to prevent heat from entering from above. This will keep your home cool without having to use too much additional energy for air conditioning.
If you live in an area that often has cold winters, the floor of your attic can be lined with a radiant barrier to stop heat from entering your attic and quickly escaping. Overall, this will increase the energy efficiency of your home by keeping it warm without the overuse of additional heating.
Make Your Attic Entryway More Efficient
The entranceway into your attic is an often overlooked area when trying to make your home more energy-efficient. Ensuring that the doorway or hatch into your attic is properly sealed when closed will stop any potential for air leaks, and allow your insulation and vents to do their job efficiently.
Any potential leaks into the rest of your home from your attic or improper installation of vents or insulation can increase the amount of energy you have to use to keep your home at the proper temperature.
Applying Energy-Efficient Practices to the Rest of Your Home
Using the aforementioned tips to make your attic more energy-efficient can apply to other areas of your home as well. Sealing any air leaks and paying close attention to entrances and doorways can help you create a more energy-efficient home overall.
Keeping the temperature of your home properly regulated will save you money, help the environment, and help you stay comfortable throughout every season of the year.
Guns N Hoses is here to help you with your needs relating to making your home more energy-efficient — contact us if you have any questions or inquiries about our services and how we can help you get your attic up to date with new ventilation and insulation.
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