The weather is heating up here in Manassas and the DC metropolitan area, and for many homeowners, this means running an air conditioner constantly. When temperatures climb into the 90s and above, living and working in an environment that’s difficult to cool can be uncomfortable to say the least.
Homeowners in the DC metro area are rejoicing in the fact that the winter weather is almost gone. Most of us look forward to spending more time outside and ditching those extra layers, but now is also the perfect time to focus on improving your home’s energy efficiency. The problem? Most homeowners don’t know where to start.
The holidays are right around the corner, which means now’s the time to prepare should we end up experiencing a rough winter. One of the biggest headaches associated with home performance in the winter is that of ice dams, and Virginia isn’t exactly in the clear the way most of us would like to think it is.Christmas lists and meal planning may be on your mind right now, but you owe it to yourself to do everything possible to keep ice dams at bay this winter, and the team at The Fifth Fuel is here to help.
Fall is in full swing, and many homeowners living in and around Manassas, VA are beginning to notice cold spots popping up once again. Summer often hides these issues, but once temperatures begin to fall, cold spots make themselves known in short order. It’s easy to assume that the problem is due to a faulty HVAC system, but this is typically not the case at all.More often than not, cold spots or even entire rooms that are difficult to keep warm are the direct result of a leaky building envelope.
For many Washington DC-area homeowners, dealing with temperature differentials between floors is a fact of life. Some let years go by simply assuming that they don’t have any control over this all-too-common issue, opting to install extra window AC units or multiple fans to keep parts of their home cool. The fact is, however, getting to the root of the problem is the only way to fix temperature differentials, and it doesn’t have to be quite as difficult as you might assume.
No matter what time of the year it is, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better solution to enhancing home comfort and energy efficiency than by focusing on insulation. It’s often assumed that insulation is most effective during the winter months, but it acts the same way during the summer, keeping conditioned air inside and outside air from entering the home.
Cape Cod-style homes date back to 17 century New England, where these charming homes were designed to withstand the elements. The homes are compact and have a simple rectangular footprint. A steep roof helped shed snow, relatively low ceilings made it easier to heat, and shutters helped keep wind out during storms.The revival of the Cape Cod homes began in the late 1920s and lasted for several decades. We now have many such homes throughout Northern Virginia and Metro Maryland.
