Staying cool in the Coastal Bend’s long, hot and humid summers can leave you with painfully high energy bills if you don’t optimize your home for efficiency. A home energy evaluation helps you identify the most effective steps you can take to save on cooling.
Start with a DIY Inspection
- Check for leaks — Air leaks caused by cracks around your windows, doors, and many other locations increase the load on your A/C and furnace. When the wind blows, hold a lit incense stick near areas prone to leaks. If the smoke blows around, you have a leak you’ll want to seal
- Assess your insulation — Unwanted heat gain and loss in the attic is a common cause of energy waste. Your attic should have an R-30 (9-inch) layer of insulation at minimum.
- Spot check your ducts — Poorly maintained ducts can waste up to 30 percent of the air they carry. Check the accessible ducts in your attic and basement to make sure the joints are tightly sealed with mastic and the ducts are insulated.
- Look over your lights — Check for any fixtures still using incandescent bulbs. Consider replacing these bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or LED lamps.
Call in a Pro
An HVAC professional will bring the equipment and knowledge needed to find the less obvious energy wasters that won’t show up during a DIY home energy evaluation. Correcting these issues lets you tighten up your home and lower your energy bills even more.
- Blower door test – Using a large fan placed in an exterior door, your technician will depressurize your house in order to accurately measure your air leakage.
- Duct blaster test – Often used in conjunction with blower door equipment, a duct blaster is connected to the ducts to test for air leakage.
- Infrared scan – Scanning your home with an infrared camera lets your technician see points of heat loss and gain. This tells you if you need more insulation in your attic, walls, floors, or elsewhere.
To schedule a professional home energy evaluation, contact us at CCAC in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about home energy evaluations and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 361-678-2495.
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Michael D Brown/Shutterstock”
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