Lowering Fuel and Electric bills in Middlefield, CT
Challenge
These homeowners called us because they were spending way to much money on their fuel and electric bills. We sent over one of our building science experts to investigate this problem. Our expert took a look in the attic and saw that the HVAC system has little protection. If you have ever been in an attic in the middle of the summer you know it gets very very hot. Some time it can reach up to 140 degrees! This is a very bad environment to have a large system in. When you want cold air, the system has to run very hard to fight through the extreme temperatures it is in to give you the cool air you need to cool down your home. This makes the system run all the time, making your bills skyrocket!
Solution
To fix this problem, we have to encapsulate the ducts. First thing we do is lay our 2 inch silverglo on top of the main trunk line. Not only does the silverglo's reflective barrier bounce any heat that is trying to penetrate the duct away, the foam board helps keep the cool in and the heat out. The next step is to spray the duct with our 2-part spray foam. We do this for a couple of reasons. One of them is so that if there is any leaks in the ducts, they are now sealed. The other reason is to stop the heat in the attic from penetrating the system. After we take care of the main trunk, we spray the rest of the system all the way to the register boots. When we are done, the heat can no longer get to the system. This means when your want 55 degree air to cool your home, you actually get that cool air. Now the system doesn't have to run as much and as hard. The electric bills will not be as high and the home is now more comfortable and energy efficient!
