Summer Is In Full Swing: Make Sure Your Insulation Can Handle The Heat

Are your summer air conditioning bills breaking your budget? Do you have problems cooling your house evenly on hot summer days? Maybe you need to look at upgrading your insulation to reduce your bills and make your house more comfortable.

Here in the Corpus Christi area, you don’t need to worry too much about insulating to keep the mild winter chill out, but it is critical to have your house insulated to keep the summer heat from making you miserable. Here are some key points to consider about your home’s insulation:

• Your attic is the least expensive part of your house to add insulation to, and insulating it well will have a big impact on your utility bills.
• If you have a crawlspace beneath your main floor, it should be insulated to keep the summer heat from rising into your house.
• Adding insulating materials to existing walls is expensive, but you should include an insulation upgrade in any renovation or new addition plans you may have.
• The ductwork in your attic or crawlspace should be insulated to prevent loss of cool air as it passes through unconditioned spaces.
• Awnings or insulated window shades that block incoming sunlight can reduce your cooling bills.

Your roof acts as a giant solar collector, absorbing heat from the sun and radiating it into your attic 24 hours a day. Insulating your attic well can cut your energy bills by preventing that heat from flowing into your living areas.

The U.S. Department of Energy recommends that attics in our climate zone be insulated to an R-value of 30 to 60. Blown-in fiberglass is the best option.  Stay away from blown-in cellulose because it creates dust problems in your home. You can have a reflective radiant barrier sprayed onto the underside of your roof deck, which will keep much of the radiant heat absorbed by your roof from entering your attic.

Contact us at CCAC, Inc. for expert advice on improving your home’s energy efficiency. We can upgrade your insulation, replace your A/C with a more efficient unit, or find other cost-effective ways to keep your home comfortable.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Mathews CCAC Air Conditioning and Heating services Corpus Christi, TX. To get started, check out our website.