Is Your Cooled Air Escaping Your Residential Home
The appliance in your home that uses the most energy is your air conditioning unit. The unit requires energy to run the system, cool the air and circulate it throughout the house. Spring has just arrived and with it has brought warmer weather which requires most people to turn on their air conditioning unit. This also happens to be the time that you might notice any problems or issues with the efficiency of your air conditioning system. Having an AC unit that is working efficiently saves you money on your power bill and can help to conserve energy. The best way to ensure that your unit is not malfunctioning or in need of repair is to contact an HVAC company such as Ambient Heating & Air Conditioning. Many people don’t realize they are wasting energy because their cooled air is escaping through gaps and cracks in their home.
Ambient Heating & Air Conditioning lists several ways that you could be losing cool air and wasting energy.
How to Stop Air From Leaking Around Doors & Windows: One of the most common ways that cool air escapes from your home is through gaps and cracks around your windows and doors. This is largely due to weather stripping that has gone bad or been removed. Weather stripping is a rubber material that is installed around every window and exterior door to seal off the outdoor weather conditions. The stripping can go bad due to weather conditions such as high heat and sun damage. If the weather stripping has any broken pieces or damaged areas, it needs to be replaced to ensure that cooled air stays in your house. You can replace the weather stripping by visiting your local home improvement store and purchasing the necessary materials.
Air Can Escape Through Damaged or Broken Air Ducts: Homes that have a central air conditioning unit also have a serious of duct work installed in the attic or crawl space. When the duct work is initially installed the technician will seal all joints to allow the air to flow and cool each room individually. If one of these joints are missed and left unsealed or the seal has broken, the air can begin to escape into the open crawl space or attic. When this happens your air conditioning unit has to work even harder to get your home to the desired temperature. The only way to have this damage repaired is by contacting an HVAC company.
