Lower the Heating Load in Your Home

Your home’s heating system works hard during the winter months, so it endures a lot of strain and wear. You can help extend the equipment’s lifespan and reduce the likelihood of mid-season breakdowns and costly repairs by lowering your heating load.

What is Your “Heating Load”?

Simply put, the heating load in your home is the amount of energy that’s consumed to maintain the temperature you set on the thermostat. Reducing the load doesn’t require any elaborate mathmatical equations – it just involves making targeted improvements to boost your home’s overall efficiency. These efficiency-wise improvements not only make your heating system’s job easier, but they can also lower your energy bills and enhance your comfort year round.

Effective Ways to Reduce Your Heating Load

Anything you do to improve the energy efficiency of your home can help lower the load on your furnace, heat pump or boiler. Here are a few effective steps you can take:

• Air seal the attic. To reduce energy waste between the attic and your finished living areas, weatherstrip and insulate the access hatch, then seal gaps around plumbing stacks, electrical wiring, light fixtures, the chimney and knee walls with expandable foam, metal flashing and heat-resistant caulk.
• Assess attic insulation levels. Once the space is air sealed, make sure you have between R-38 and R-60 of insulation on the attic floor. As a rule of thumb, your attic needs more insulation if the tops of the floor joists are visible.
• Correct ductwork deficiencies. Have an HVAC pro inspect the ductwork and fix any issues like disconnected, loose or crushed sections, then seal all the seams and joins with metal backed tape or mastic, and install an R-8 insulation wrap

• Tighten up the exterior envelope. Use a combination of weatherstripping, expandable spray foam and exterior caulk to seal leaks where different building materials meet, around doors and windows, between the sill plate and foundation, and around penetrations where wiring, pipes and vents pass through the shell.

For more advice on reducing the heating load in your Middletown home, contact us today at C.R. Wolfe Heating & Air Conditioning.

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 heating loads and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 845-367-4482.

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