Did you know your attic is likely the reason your home is uncomfortable?
The areas of our homes that we see the least often can have the most impact on how we feel every day in the areas of our homes that we spend the most time in. Most attics are insufficiently or ineffectively insulated. Older homes in this area often have less insulation in the attics than is needed to properly insulate the home. This can happen over time as insulation settles and as external air is able to work into an attic bringing dirt, allergens and often unwanted pests with it. Many newer homes are built very quickly and with the least expensive materials available. Meeting “CODE” does not mean using the highest quality materials. Improving the quality of insulation in your attic can greatly impact your homes comfort and the cost to heat and cool a home year round. Air Sealing is the most important step in any attic project. Eliminating the ability for air to move freely in and out of an attic and keeping conditioned air in the rooms of a home that it is intended to heat or cool can help reduce energy costs as much as 25% in most homes. Giving attention to the HVAC ducts running through an attic can have a similar effect. Imagine a metal HVAC duct running through an attic in Northern VA in February. It could be 20 to 30 degrees in the attic and that metal HVAC duct has heated air trying to travel through it. The attic air is a hostile environment for the heated air created by the HVAC system. By the time the heated air passes through the cold HVAC duct, it is no longer at the temperature it needs to be to heat the rooms of the home it is travelling to. This can cause people to turn up the heat or to have their system running more often than it needs to. HVAC ducts in an attic should be sealed to prevent conditioned air from escaping and should be insulated with either spray foam insulation, wrap insulation or be buried in cellulose blown insulation. This is just one example of how the space in your home that you don’t always see, can have a significant impact on a homeowner or resident.
