It is amazing how much of a difference insulation makes! While it may be strange to think about having a home with little or no insulation, it is quite common for older St. Louis homes. After all, insulation is a somewhat modern invention. If you have a historic home, you may want to check for poor insulation as this can have a big impact on your heating and cooling bills. For more help determining how your insulation is affecting HVAC efficiency, get in touch with the heating & air conditioning experts at Galmiche & Sons today at (314) 993-1110 and we can help you assess your options.
How to Tell if You Have Poor Insulation
The first step is to determine if you have any insulation, poor insulation, or are facing a different problem. Some HVAC problems can seem like issues with insulation, so you should troubleshoot your central air conditioner if you notice new issues. You can also use age to inform you: houses built before 1940 almost certainly have poor insulation, and those built before the 70s may also have insulation problems.
Here are some other common signs of bad insulation to look out for:
- Drafts and cold spots
- Damage to your roof
- Big differences in temperature from room to room
- High heating and cooling bills
Optimizing Your HVAC for Poor Insulation
Poor insulation can massively increase your heating and cooling costs. So, you should try to offset or address the problem using the suggestions below. Remember, your HVAC service team can help!
- Used “Zoned” Heating & Cooling – A great way to get better results in a poorly insulated home is to set up different temperature zones. You can achieve this using multiple thermostats to control the temperature in different regions of the house. With today’s smart home technology, this is easier than ever and can help you save a lot on energy costs while staying comfortable.
- Install an Attic Fan – Installing an attic fan is a good way to address both stuffiness and possible roof damage from poor insulation. In hot weather, hot air will rise and fill up the attic. An attic fan can address this and can also help with draftiness from poor insulation. Basically, if your home is cooling unevenly, a fan can help circulate the air more and normalize the temperature a bit. And again, this can help protect your roof and other structures in the home.
- Have Insulation Put In – Finally, you might just choose to go ahead and replace the insulation that is there, or have some put in if there is no insulation at all. Poor insulation can cause a range of problems, and the best way to be sure you are getting the best function possible from your HVAC system is to have insulation put in. It can be a big project but depending on how bad your current insulation is, you may end up saving in terms of energy costs.
Suffering from Poor Insulation? Call Galmiche & Sons
Some people save as much as 50% on energy costs after installing insulation. Plus, you do not have to do full insulation right away, just insulating windows or the attic at first can help a lot. To learn more or come up with a plan for addressing poor insulation in your home, give the heating & air conditioning professionals at Galmiche & Sons a call today at (314) 993-1110.
