I am constantly reading blogs, articles and helpful tips on how to reduce household energy consumption.
In my local area, we experience freezing cold winters with temperatures down to negative twenty-five degrees.
Our summers are hot and humid and bring temperatures in the low nineties. Heating and cooling are just about year round necessities and add up to about fifty percent of our energy consumption. My utility bills are always an unpleasant surprise. I’ve caulked, weatherstripped and added ceiling fans. I’ve enrolled in a preventive maintenance plan with a local HVAC company. I make sure to be conscientious about replacing air filters and recently upgraded to a smart thermostat. I noticed that all of these blogs and articles mention the importance of attic insulation. While I use my attic to store old furniture, clothing, Christmas decorations and hockey gear, the space is designed to create a barrier between the living environment and the outdoor air. To function properly, the attic needs to be sufficiently insulated. Otherwise, it actually works as a detriment instead of an asset. Heat naturally migrates to cooler spaces. An overheated attic in the summer encourages heat to travel into the living environment and add to the workload of the air conditioner. A freezing cold attic in the winter pulls heat out of the living area and increases demands on the furnace. I thought my attic was insulated. However, when I finally inspected the attic, I found that the insulation was very old and had been compromised by moisture and rodents. There were air pockets. I was anxious to get that dirty, nasty insulation out of the attic. The process of removing it was especially awful. The attic was extremely hot and stuffy. Installing the new insulation was also very unpleasant. However, once the job was complete, I noticed a difference in the comfort of my home.