You can’t always see the problems. But you sure can feel them.
It’s not always easy to tell that your house is wasting energy.
Maybe you’ve noticed a slight uptick in your energy bills, but you think it’s just because the cost of fuel is going up. Or maybe you haven’t noticed any changes at all. If your house isn’t any different than it was before, then nothing’s wrong, right?
The truth is that homes many houses use more energy than they should, especially as they get older. But if you don’t know the signs of energy waste, it can be hard to spot the problem.
Here are a few ways to tell if your house isn’t performing as efficiently as it should.
Uneven temperatures between rooms
Say you’ve set your thermostat to 70, but one room is cold and another feels like an inferno. This means your heating system is overcompensating as it tries to reach the temperature you set. If your house isn’t properly air sealed and insulated, the heater will just keep running and running, but never hit its temperature.
Ice dams
Ice dams are a symptom of heat loss from your house. They form because a portion of your attic is improperly air sealed and insulated. Heat from your home rises into the attic, melting the snow on the roof line too quickly. This snow re-freezes in an ice sheet at the bottom of your roof and expands underneath the shingles, causing them to break.
If you notice that the snow on some portions of your roof has melted faster than other areas, you should be concerned. Ice dams can be one dam costly problem.
High energy bills
An average-size home shouldn’t require more than 250 therms of gas per month in winter. If you’re going way over that number, your heating system may be over-consuming energy.
Summer moisture issues
Humidity is a natural part of summer. But If your AC system is kicking on and off frequently, it may mean that your system is oversized and unable to remove moisture from the air.
Recognize any of these problems in your own house? Give us a call, we’ll be happy to talk about what’s going on.