HVAC efficiency depends upon more than just the make and model of your air conditioner or furnace. Insulation is one of the factors that can make or break both optimum energy efficiency and consistent comfort in your house.

Insulation For All Seasons

Heat energy is always in motion from a warmer zone into a cooler zone. Proper insulation effectively inhibits both heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter and supports maximum HVAC efficiency. The most cost-effective location for household insulation is usually the attic. Here’s why:

• Solar heat radiating through the roof overheats the attic in summer, causing rooms below to become hotter, too. A bed of fiberglass or cellulose insulation in the attic floor effectively inhibits heat radiation through the ceiling and reduces the cooling load on your air conditioner.
• In winter, heat from the furnace naturally rises in living spaces, radiating up through the ceiling into the colder attic. Proper insulation in the attic floor resists heat transfer through the ceiling and keeps heating costs lower.

How Insulation Pays Off

By reducing the effect of heat gain and heat loss, insulation boosts HVAC efficiency, maximizes performance of your air conditioner or furnace and helps control cooling/heating costs.

• Shorter cooling cycles means the A/C compressor—often the largest single electricity consumer in a typical house—runs less and monthly electricity costs are reduced.
• Gas-fired furnaces also use less fuel to keep the house warm as insulation reduces heat loss into the attic.
• Manufacturer’s efficiency ratings are more accurate. Both the SEER efficiency rating for air conditioners and the AFUE rating for gas-fired furnaces are helpful factors in predicting the operating costs of a particular unit. The reliability of these efficiency calculations assumes that proper insulation is installed in the house.
• Components of efficient HVAC units receive less wear and tear. System service life is extended due to shorter cycles and repairs are less frequent.

For more about the link between proper insulation and improved HVAC efficiency, ask the professionals at Powers Heating & Air.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 770-487-2040.