Conquer Heat Loss in Your Middletown Home

After spending so much money to heat your Middletown-area home, why let it escape, wasted and useless out into the cold? An energy-efficient furnace, boiler or heat pump is essential, yes, but it must be accompanied by your best efforts to conquer heat loss. 

Heat leaves your home on many fronts. From your roof to your basement, you need to find and stop the loss. It is a project you can accomplish a little at a time, and each step improves your home’s energy efficiency:

• Roof—Climb a ladder (or peer out a dormer window) to check your asphalt shingles or tiles. Missing shingles or tiles mean heat loss (and water penetration). Watch for dents and dings from hail damage or fallen branches. Mold or algae growth indicates a warm, moist environment—the warmth is likely coming from your HVAC system through heat loss in your Middletown home’s roof.
• Exterior Walls—Look for unsealed holes piercing foundation walls and siding: electrical wires, pipes, vents, TV cables and the like. Caulk and seal these openings, using UV-resistant exterior grade caulk.
• Around Openings—Windows and doors allow air leaks between the moving parts. Check and replace weatherstripping around every opening. Be sure to include garage doors if your garage is attached, as well as the attic entryway.
• Vents Inside—Your home’s ductwork ends with air vents (supply and return) in every room. Floor grates can become clogged with dust when heated air is not blowing through the ducts. Vacuum all the vents to maintain airflow.
• Basement Pipes—Every inch of exposed metal water pipes in your basement or crawl space is surface area for heat loss. Pipe insulation is inexpensive and very easy to apply, taking only minutes to split open and snug around hot water pipes. Measure your pipes and add around 10 percent for waste and mistakes.
• Water Heater—Wrapping your water heater with insulation keeps heat from escaping from your expensively heated water. Also consider reducing the operating temperature to 120 degrees to save money and energy.

For more help in conquering heat loss in your Middletown-area home, contact C. R. Wolfe Heating and Air.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Middletown, New York about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about heat loss and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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