To quote the wise words of Ned Stark, “Winter is coming.”
When the wind grows chilly during autumn, giving way to the inevitable arctic barrage we call winter, you’ll want to be sure your house is warm. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult a task to keep your home balmy while the cold winds blow outdoors. It does, however, require a reasonable amount of attention to be paid to your HVAC system.
HVAC companies field innumerable calls every fall and winter complaining about houses never being warm enough, certain rooms being cold spots, and various other iterations that boil down to people being c-c-c-c-cold. Fear not, our HVAC company knows heating and cooling pretty well, so gather ’round the fire and lend an ear to our toasty advice.
Cold spots
If your home has cold spots — certain rooms that never seem to warm up — that’s usually a ductwork problem. In the United States, ducted heating and cooling systems comprise 90% of HVAC installations in new homes. Which is nice, but ducts need to be cleaned and inspected for both leakage and balanced airflow. Certain rooms get cold either when certain portions of your ducts are leaking warm air (aren’t properly sealed) or your ductwork doesn’t evenly distribute air. Don’t neglect to inspect.
Help your HVAC system out
Help your heating help you. One of the best ways to do this is with proper insulation, especially in the attic. Heat rises and, when your attic isn’t well insulated, all that rising heat leaves your house. Having an appropriately insulated attic will ensure that the heat from your HVAC system isn’t just escaping through the roof of your house. You might have the best system, but if your house is letting heat escape, you’ll be cold and have an absurd energy bill.
Bring it into the 21st century
Technology has come so far and programmable thermostats can help keep your in-home temperature extremely well regulated. Modern HVAC companies know that you stand to save money every month on your energy bills while keeping your home at perfect temperatures. Accessible from mobile devices and able to be automated, programmable thermostats are an excellent tool to have. What they can’t do is fix faulty ducting and poor insulation, so fix those things first, then the programmable thermostat will work wonders.
Don’t catch a draft this winter. Stay toasty, make sure your HVAC system is up to snuff, and you’ll shoo those shivers away.