Have you ever been in your house on a hot day, turned on your air conditioner, and waited for things to cool off? You waited…and waited…and waited…but the room you were in never got quite cool enough? Sometimes when the heat of summer is at its highest and the AC units are working their hardest, the air temperature in a home can still remain uncomfortable. Here are a few reasons and solutions that you might try to remedy this situation.
1. Check your thermostat location.
Your thermostat is most likely located in the center of your home. Check its location relative to any air registers that are around. Sometimes, the air around the register will cool off before the rooms that further away have time to cool off. This sends a false message to the thermostat that your home has reached the desired temperature. If you think this may be your problem, a solution would be to close the air registers around the thermostat. This will give time for the rooms further away to reach the desired temperature before the air conditioning shuts off.
2. Check to see if your air ducts are leaking or uninsulated.
If your air ducts are not in proper working order, they could cost you a lot of money. This could come in the form of leaks or lack of insulation. Check your air ducts for any openings that are not at air registers. Check to make sure that the areas around your air ducts and air registers are sealed tight. If they are not sealed properly, the air leaks into the interior of your walls, attics, or floors and does not reach the rooms, it is intended to go to. Also, check to see if your air ducts are insulated. Think of how hot your attic gets in the summertime. If your attic is toasty and your air ducts that are up there are not insulated, they will also be toasty. As cooled air passes through the uninsulated air ducts, it will be warmed up as a consequence, thus affecting the temperature of the areas you are trying to cool.
3. Check your home’s insulation.
Did you know that 9 out of 10 homes in the United States aren’t insulated properly? If you have checked your thermostat location and you have checked your air ducts, and nothing seems to be helping your uncomfortable temperature situation, the problem might lie within the walls of your home. Hot air will always move towards cold air. You most likely have a leaky house if you have insufficient insulation in your home. That means that you have air passing freely through your floors, walls, and roof. This is the air you are paying a lot of money to cool off. During the summertime, a leaky house will allow the hot air outside to move in and join the cool conditioned air inside. How can you fix this? Your goal should be to create an airtight home envelope where you control (through proper ventilation) what air comes in and out of your home. You can do this by sealing up cracks around windows and doors. You can also use injection/spray foam insulation in your walls, floors, and attics to seal any nooks and crannies. Once you have sealed up your home, you will notice an increase in your comfort and a decrease in your electricity bill.
At Retrofoam of the Carolinas, our number one priority is to help our customers find peace and comfort in the walls of their own home. We offer both spray and injection foam insulations. Our home insulation has many benefits, and we want to share them with you! If you are interested in a free quote contact one of our foam specialists today.
