Is There a Problem with YOUR Attic or Crawl Space?
Wednesday, December 20th, 2017 by Joy Padgett
Did you know that heating and cooling your home accounts for the majority of your monthly utility bills? Unfortunately, if you’re in the Central Kentucky area, your home probably doesn’t have the recommended level of insulation and it is likely that little to no air sealing has been performed in key locations. These two possibilities are unnecessarily boosting your monthly energy costs.
According to reports from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), homeowners can save somewhere in the neighborhood of 15% on heating and cooling costs by having their homes air sealed and insulated according to regional recommendations (https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_sealing.hm_improvement_methodology). Attic, floor and rim joist insulation in conjunction with air sealing attics and crawlspaces can help you dramatically reduce your utility bills while providing a more comfortable home for you and your loved ones. The good folks at Weatherization Plus are skilled at diagnosing the problems and providing solutions.
We Can Provide These Solutions to Your Attic and Crawl Space Problems:
- Reduce air leaks
- Extract your compromised insulation in your attic
- Encapsulate your crawlspace
- Encapsulate your duct-work
- Insulate your attic
- Insulate your crawlspace
- Make your house more comfortable
- Help reduce your utility bills
- Reduce draftiness
- Improve indoor air quality
- Slow down the aging process of your home
- Reduce moisture issues in your home
- Reduce musty smells in your home
BEWARE!!! If you’ve had a contractor out to look at the insulation in your house and give you an estimate and he gave you a dollar amount for simply adding more insulation, know this: Prescription without diagnosis and insulation without air sealing is malpractice!
Now, I’m not going to go through each of the points above individually, but, if you’ll keep reading, you’ll see them contained in the main points below.
Make Your Attic Work for You
Most attics are leaky. This air leakage results in higher heating and cooling bills because unconditioned air is coming in while conditioned air is being pushed out. If you could actually see your energy dollars, you’d see them slipping through all the gaps and cracks in your attic! Those dollars have not been well spent, if you ask me. Because the vast majority of homes in Central Kentucky haven’t been air sealed, most homeowners are over-spending on monthly utility bills, not to mention creating long-term maintenance issues with their HVAC systems. On top of this, you should consider the age and condition of your attic insulation. Insulation settles over time which decreases the r-value and the effectiveness. Plus, mice, bugs and bees take up residence in most attics and damage the insulation. We can remove the old, dirty, compromised insulation so that air sealing can be completed AND the germs from unwanted guests won’t spread into your living space which will help improve your indoor air quality. This can be especially important to allergy sufferers.
Shedding Light on Your Dark and Damp Crawl Space
I know the feeling….you really think something is going on in your crawl space but you don’t want to go in there! It’s dark, damp, and smells funny. You are not alone! Most homeowners don’t venture into the crawl space. I’m with you. However, your crawl space is more than likely contributing to the reduction in energy efficiency of your home. Plus, it may contain moisture which is going to speed up the aging process of your home by weakening the floor joists and sub-floor and even rusting out duct work. Furthermore, it could be a source for aggravating allergies to mold and mildew or it could be a breeding ground for dust mites. Because most people don’t like to go into the crawl space, issues therein can easily go unnoticed and the damage can run rampant. We can inspect your crawl space, locate any damaged areas, and lay out a plan of action to remedy any issues we find. We can encapsulate your crawl space. A clean crawl space contributes to improved indoor air quality and helps create a more comfortable home for you. AND….if you’ve noticed a musty smell in your home, it could be coming from your crawlspace…..if we can identify the source, we can help eliminate it!
Your Home and Your Health
Did you know that you’re probably breathing air that was once in your crawlspace? Does that thought cause you alarm? Much of the air on the first floor of your home has come from your crawlspace. Why? Well, first, if your duct system is in the crawlspace, it is probably leaky which is allowing it to suck the crawlspace air into the ducts and then dispense that air into your living areas. Second, unless your crawl space has been air sealed, it contains gaps and cracks which are creating pathways for the crawlspace air to follow up into your living spaces. This phenomena reduces your indoor air quality….obviously. But it also contributes to comfort issues inside your home and higher utility bills. The good news is…we can fix your crawlspace!
Air Sealing, Moisture Protection and Insulation
The condition of your crawl space has a great impact on the comfort level inside your house. A crawl space that has been properly air sealed, moisture-protected and insulated creates an increased comfort level within the home. It will also improve the durability of your house and reduce energy costs while reducing the levels of irritants and pollutants in the home. And those drafts that make you feel like you’re in a wind tunnel? Well, you can kiss those good-bye as air sealing greatly reduces their strength!
Duct Systems and You
Conditioned air (warm in the winter months and cool during summer months) is distributed throughout your house through you duct system. However, as your home ages and settles, so does your duct work. This naturally occurring phenomena causes gaps to form between duct sections and can cause ducts to become detached from your vents. When these things happen, that air you want inside your living room, for example, is actually going into your attic or crawlspace. So….this is causing your HVAC system to work harder and for longer periods of time than it should…..which leads to higher utility bills and creates a home where you’re not comfortable in every room. Duct encapsulation seals your duct system so that the air you’re paying to heat or cool actually reaches you at your desired temperature.
The Home Performance Experts
I have to say, the folks where I work are the best in the industry! Since they don’t peddle a specific product, they are free to determine what is causing your home to be uncomfortable, or use more energy than it should. From there, they customize a plan to meet your budget (as best they can) and help you prioritize if you need to work in phases. Best yet, these fine folks can finance it! Don’t just take my word for it….I mean, I do work here….so you should see for yourself!
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