Once the summer hits Manassas, VA and the DC metro area, the heat and humidity will take every opportunity your home gives it to make you and your family uncomfortable. Do you find yourself constantly needing to turn up the AC to keep your home cool? Relying too heavily on your air conditioner can be costly, hiking up your energy bills and putting increased stress on your unit. The solution to keeping your home cool and efficient during the summer is proper home insulation and air sealing.
Insulation: Not just for the winter months
Yes, proper home insulation and air sealing keeps you warm during the chilly months, by keeping the heat inside and the cold outside. But did you know it also can keep the heat outside your home during the summer months?
That may sound a bit backwards, so let’s dig a little deeper. Home insulation and air sealing inhibit the flow of heat. Heat naturally flows from a warm area to a cool area, which means heat not only wants to escape your home in the winter but also invade your home in the summer. The idea behind proper insulation and air sealing is to stop this flow of heat for comfortable indoor temperatures year-round.
How proper insulation works
Since we know that heat tends to move towards cooler areas, summer means heat is actually trying to invade your home. This happens at the “building envelope,” which is the boundary between the inside and outside of your home. Your walls, ceilings, floors, doors and windows are part of the building envelope.
Insulation inside the walls, ceilings, windows, doors, etc. creates a “thermal boundary” along your home’s building envelope, keeping heat out during the summer and in during the winter. Air sealing, meanwhile, creates an “air boundary” along the building envelope to regulate air flow into and out of your home year-round.
What’s the next step?
Now that you know a little about how insulation works, you can take steps to make your home more efficient. Sealing any cracks, gaps, or holes in your home, and then having high quality insulation material professionally installed are important steps in getting the most out of your air conditioning in the summer. And in doing so, there will be benefits year-round, including:
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A warmer home in the winter
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A cooler home in the summer
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Preventing your AC from premature burnout
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Lower energy bills each month
Trust the professionals to help
Making your home more efficient isn’t rocket science; it’s building science. From making sure your house is air sealed, to installing the best insulation for your home, The Fifth Fuel has got you covered. Our highly trained professionals have helped many homeowners in Falls Church, Alexandria, Arlington, Mclean, and Fairfax, Virginia and Maryland save money.
