An inefficient heating and
cooling system does not go unnoticed for any home as it will be uncomfortably
hot during summer and cold and drafty during winter. There are also problems
associated with excessive dust due to indoor air pollution, expensive energy
bills, peeling paint on the walls and ice dams on the roof due to bad
insulation. With hot and cold spots in various areas of your home, it
definitely depicts inefficient heating and cooling systems. If you are always
trying to set the right temperature on your thermostat for comfort or adjusting
the air vents, then there may be improper airflow indoors.
If you have improper airflow,
it will definitely bring harm to the working life of your furnace and air
conditioning systems in the long run and contribute to high energy costs. There
are several areas that need to be addressed if your home has uneven heating and
cooling:-
- Sizes of the HVAC unit – Many homeowners make the mistake of buying the wrong size heating and cooling units. Bigger units for small indoor areas and smaller units for larger indoor areas end up consuming more energy. This is because bigger units consume more energy and are not required for heating and cooling small indoor areas. Smaller units consume more energy because they need to yank up more power to heat and cool larger indoor areas. This will increase your utility bills and reduce the working life of your system. A large unit will also cause fluctuations in electricity supply for your home due to over capacity. You can ask a technician to run a check on your units and replace it if it’s not of the correct size.
- Speed motors – The motors in your unit could also be one more feature that contributes to improper heating or cooling. For better control of indoor airflow, check to see if it’s a variable speed motor. This kind of motor moves the air slowly through the system and provides even heating and cooling. Variable motors also aid in air filtration and moisture control for optimum working efficiency of the system
- Ductwork – Improperly sized ducts causes constriction in the air flow which provides imbalance in heating and cooling. Leakages and blocks in the ducts will also cause uneven conditioning of air. If your ducts are not of the proper size, they need to be replaced at the earliest. For proper airflow, blocks and leaks also need to be removed. You can get a professional HVAC contractor to fix all of the technical glitches in your heating and cooling systems. Only a professional can find out the underlying causes of the problem and take the necessary steps to rectify it.
The advantages of an energy audit
To go one more
step further for energy efficiency, undertake an energy audit of your entire
home. Homeowners can determine where the home loses its energy efficiency and
where maximum consumption takes place that causes expensive utility bills. An
energy auditor is the right person to detect problem areas indoors and find a
solution for it. Only a professional audit will help in determining the amount
of energy that is used and evaluate techniques and processes to improve
efficiency. State of the art equipments are used by energy auditors to carry
out the inspection. Leaks in the building are measured by blower doors and
missing insulation in hard to reveal areas like basements, attics and
crawlspaces are detected by infrared cameras.
One of the
biggest advantages of performing an energy audit is that it pushes homeowners
into doing stuff they know they should have done long before.
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