How Can I Keep Heat From Escaping My Home?
Unfortunately, some houses aren’t as equipped to keep the heat inside. When cold floors and drafty rooms are forcing you to bundle up, you may be wondering how to keep your home warmer?
Home Comfort and its Greatest Enemy: Heat Loss
The greatest enemy of home comfort and energy efficiency is heat loss. Heat loss, also referred to as air leakage, is the scientific process that draws warm air to colder spaces. There are many permeable areas in a home that can allow heat loss to occur, such as around masonry, plumbing, and electrical wiring, drawing the warm air that you pay for away from living spaces. Not to mention the possibility of lackluster insulation, unsealed ductwork, and aging windows and doors.
How To Improve Home Comfort
When looking to improve indoor comfort, the first step is to reach out to a professional for advice. The most common ways to increase comfort in the home are through proper insulation, air sealing, and energy-efficient windows and doors!
1. Home Insulation
Proper home insulation is an essential part of comfort and energy efficiency to any home. Using proper insulation material that has the correct R-value (or heat retention ability) can go a long way. Not only will adequate home insulation make you feel more comfortable in your home, but it will also save you money and allow heating systems to run more efficiently.
There are virtually no areas of a home that should go uninsulated, including:
Home insulation ensures the retention of heated or cooled air, allowing the home to reach the desired temperature and the cooling or heating system to shut off in a timely manner.
2. Air Sealing
Air sealing is the practice of filling small cracks and gaps in the structure of the home, usually around masonry, plumbing, and electrical wiring with an expanding foam material. During construction, these areas puncture through building material due to necessity; a chimney has to go through the roof, and wires and pipes have to snake through walls to provide their functions all around the home. As a result, the home is left with small holes for air to pass through.
The expanding foam is inserted into these small cracks and gaps to seal them, helping to prevent air from escaping, keeping the heat or cooling that you paid for inside the home. Areas that may be air sealed include:
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Around Chimney Stacks
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Plumbing and Wiring holes
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Attic Access Hatches
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Crawl Space Access Doors
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Around Window & Door Frames
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And more.
By air sealing your home, you maximize the amount of heat that stays in the structure and prevent the travel of dust, pollen, pests, and moisture into your home through these small intrusions.
3. Energy Efficient Doors & Windows
Windows and doors are notorious for air leakage, drafts, and poor insulation. Older homes suffer from this issue often, as they have a tendency to retain original features, such as woodwork, flooring, and windows and doors from the period of construction.
Replacing your windows and doors when they’ve outlived their projected lifespan is in the home's best interest, as well as the home's heating systems. With drafts and inefficient windows and doors, HVAC systems must work harder, and in turn, could potentially break down and require maintenance or replacement prematurely.
Finding a Home Insulation & Air Sealing Contractor
With a variety of services geared towards maximizing home comfort, energy efficiency, and money-saving, Cowleys is here for you this fall and winter season! Once the source of heat loss has been detected, we will give you advice for the next steps and offer a free estimate. With professional guidance, you can save money and be more comfortable in your home, year-round. We service all of Rumson, Freehold, Point Pleasant, Mantoloking, Fair Hills, Metuchen, and Pennington, NJ, and the surrounding areas!
Article originally published by Dr. Energy Saver
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