Does Your Attic Waste Energy and Money?

Hot air rises, and the top of your home naturally receives the attention of the sun. These two factors together make your attic space a potential energy challenge year-round: In the summer, the sun heats the air in your attic space with such an excess of heat that it radiates downward; and in the winter, rising warm air can escape from your living areas into the attic — or the outdoors — where it does you no good.

If you’ve recently had a home energy audit which points to your attic as an energy loss culprit, or if you just want to tighten your home’s envelope, here are some improvements to consider:

• Insulation. No matter where it’s installed, insulation slows the transfer of heat. In your attic, that means less heat gained from the sun in the summer, and less heat lost from your home in the winter. Ask your local HVAC and insulation experts what kind of insulation works best in your Orlando home.
• Air sealing. It’s not just the heated and cooled air getting away that you have to worry about. If humid air is carried through gaps in your walls of ceiling, they may leave moisture behind within the infrastructure of your home — and that can lead to mold or fungal growth which can damage your attic’s structural integrity.
• Radiant barriers. These roof treatments are also known as reflective insulation, and they turn away the force of the hot Orlando sun. A variation on the same technology is used by NASA spacecraft to protect them from the more direct light of the sun in places without atmosphere.
• Ventilation. Just clearing out the hot, stuffy air in the height of summer can help to protect your attic from overheating, and it may also help protect your attic from mold and mildew growth as well.

If you think your attic may be a heat trap (or a heat loser), call us at Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions!

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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