It’s been a cold and snowy winter in New York. This year more than ever energy bills have gone through the roof - literally. The reason? Heat loss due to poor insulation in your attic and home.Have you noticed some homes wear an undisturbed blanket of snow on their roof? While other homes have patchy or no snow and icicles hanging from the gutters?
BrightHome Energy Consultant, Tom Brown says, “The condition of the snow on your roof will give you a good idea about whether your attic is adequately insulated.”
Like wearing a hat on a cold day, a well-insulated attic ensures that the entire house stays warm and comfortable. Poor insulation causes a home to lose heat in many places, but, since hot air rises, it will naturally move up to the attic.
“Unless the heat is held back by insulation, it will rise up and melt the snow on the roof,” Mr. Brown explains. “A blanket of snow on your roof is a sign of good insulation while patchy snow melt is a sign of poor insulation.
Look at the photos in this article. They were taken on the same afternoon, four days after a recent snowstorm. If your roof looks like this one, you almost certainly have insulation issues. Notice that the escaping heat has almost entirely melted the snow.
If your roof looks like the one on the lower right, you may also have insulation issues. You’ll notice that nearly all of the snow has melted from the roof. On the roof next door, on the bottom left, plenty of snow is remaining. This is what you want to see when you check your roof. This means that there is little indoor heat escaping out the roof.”
“Our goal at BrightHome is to keep the heat you’ve paid for indoors,” said Mr. Brown. “Insulating and air sealing the home creates a more comfortable living space that costs much less to heat.”
“Scheduling a BrightHome energy audit is the first step,” said Mr. Brown. “Using our state-of-the-art assessment tools we can identify insulation deficiencies and venting problems in your home. We can make a plan specifically to meet your home’s individual needs to save you thousands of dollars in wasted energy.”
BrightHome can help you take advantage of up to $3,500 in New York Home Performance with Energy Star® cash incentives and Federal Tax Credits and financing as low as 3.49%.
Photo Credit: Kathy Boehm
