Learn About Heat Gain and How It Affects Your Home – Sobieski Services | DE, NJ, PA, MD

Learn About Heat Gain and How It Affects Your Home

Thermometer

While humidity is often a problem in the Delaware and Pennsylvania summers, heat gain is the main factor affecting your indoor temperature and your air conditioning bills. Understanding how your home gains heat will help you stay more comfortable and save money.

Windows

Heat gain occurs when heat enters your home either by radiating in through materials such as glass or by being conducted in through surfaces such as the walls and roof. Windows are responsible for around 48 percent of your home’s heat gain, but you can reduce this by hanging drapes or heat-reflective blinds. Awnings block even more excess heat.

Walls

Your exterior walls and roof let in some 25 percent of the heat that enters your home in summer and can let out your furnace’s warmth in winter. If your walls feel chilly in winter, schedule a professional energy audit to have their insulation levels checked. If necessary, loose-fill insulation can be added without tearing out the walls.

Weatherization

Air leaks around windows, doors, utility line penetrations and many other areas account for 13 percent of your home’s gain in heat. They also let in humidity and air contaminants. Apply caulk and install weatherstripping to block these leaks.

Attic and Roof

To limit the heat your home absorbs from this area, fit your attic with a minimum of an R-38 layer of insulation, and up to an R-49 layer. Your attic ventilation system should be one that allows airflow in and out, such as a ridge-and-soffit system. Make sure none of the vents are blocked.

Appliances and Electronics

Around 14 percent of the heat in your house is generated by appliances and people. Reduce this by limiting cooking, dish washing and laundry to cooler times of the day and by switching to more efficient lighting, such as CFLs or LED lights.

At Sobieski Services, Inc., our goal is to help our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey learn more about energy and home comfort issues – especially HVAC and plumbing issues – so that they can save money and live in healthier, more comfortable homes.

Photo Credit: Daniel Paquet via Compfight cc

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