Energy Efficiency

A home with vaulted or cathedral ceilings draws the eye upward and lets you show off beautiful craftsmanship and features like exposed beams, skylights, and chandeliers. But did you know that these high ceilings could affect your HVAC system and energy bills? Read on to learn more about the relationship between ceiling height and HVAC — and what you should do about it.

High Ceilings = More Space

Higher ceilings increase the space to be heated or cooled by your HVAC system. Therefore, if you move from a home with low ceilings to one with cathedral ceilings, you can expect your system’s workload to increase. As a result, you’ll end up with higher energy bills.

The good news is that you can do several things to compensate for the elevated ceilings, one of them being installing a right-sized HVAC system. Have a contractor size the system adequately, taking square footage, ceiling height, and other factors into consideration.

Ductwork Design

High ceilings can also reduce your HVAC system’s efficiency due to ductwork design. Remember: Hot air rises. That implies that most of your home’s heat will drift to the ceiling in the winter. In the summer, the air conditioner will have to labor to cool the extra room.

Rather than giving up your high-level ceiling, you can work with a professional to incorporate a low- and high-return air register into the room. In the summer, you can shut down the lower return with dampers or magnetic covers and allow the high return to remove heat from the ceiling. This facilitates better cool-air buildup. In the winter, you’ll need to do the opposite.

Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans help distribute heated or cooled air more efficiently in rooms with high ceilings. In the winter, run the fan blades clockwise to remove heat from the ceiling and push it downward. Reverse the fan’s rotation in the summer to stir up a breeze that makes you feel cooler.

Proper HVAC placement can improve the efficiency, operating costs and service life of an air conditioner. The A/C air handler including the evaporator coil and blower fan are located indoors, usually in a dedicated HVAC closet. The other half of a central AC comprises the condenser coil and fan as well as the system compressor. Its function is to receive compressed heat extracted from the inside of the house, then disperse it into the air.

Here are some guidelines to placing the condenser/compressor unit:

Not Recommended: Attics or Basements

Locating the condenser indoors in an attic or basement is not recommended. Heat dispersed by the unit will radiate into the living spaces, lowering household cooling efficiency and raising operating costs. Also, the indoor air volume is much less than outdoors, which will impact vital air circulation into the coil.

Recommended: Shady Outdoors with Space

Heat naturally flows from a hot zone into a cooler zone more efficiently. Because the function of the condenser coil is to release compressed heat energy into the air, the heat transfer process operates most effectively in a cool location outdoors, out of direct sun. Ideally, the unit should be positioned in shade produced by the house as many hours per day as possible. Keep these in mind for proper circulation:

• Adequate air circulation is also critical to efficient heat dispersal by the outdoor condenser. There should be at least three feet of open space on all sides to ensure proper air intake into the unit. This means spacing the unit sufficiently away from the wall of the house and also away from any thick bushes or other vegetation.
• HVAC placement in direct sun and/or without adequate air circulation also causes the unit’s compressor motor to run hotter, a factor that generally shortens its service life. Because the compressor is the most expensive single component in the system, early failure may require replacement of the entire air conditioner.

After enduring months of harsh winter weather, chances are you’re ready to welcome warmer spring temperatures with open arms. However, your HVAC system might not be ready to handle the transition from heating to cooling just yet. Before your HVAC system can switch gears, you’ll need to take care of its end of winter maintenance.

Here’s a brief to-do list of HVAC maintenance tasks to get out of the way before the end of the season:

Change the HVAC Air Filter

The start of a new season is a great time to replace your air filter. A dirty air filter can negatively affect your HVAC system’s performance, resulting in higher energy consumption and an increasing your electric bill. Replacing your HVAC filter not only helps your unit perform better, but it will also improve your home’s indoor air quality.

Check the Thermostat

As a precaution, you should change your thermostat’s batteries just in case they gotten weaker over the previous year. A weak battery can cause your thermostat to operate improperly, resulting in poor indoor comfort. As warm weather approaches, make sure your programmable thermostat is properly set for summertime temperatures.

Inspect the Ductwork

Clean air ducts are crucial for efficient airflow. As a part of your end of winter maintenance, carefully check the ductwork for any signs of damage or disrepair. If the ducts are clogged with dust and debris, have them cleaned as soon as possible.

Invest in Professional Maintenance

A visit from your HVAC technician can accomplish those end of winter maintenance tasks you might not be able to do on your own. For example, only a highly trained professional can check your HVAC system’s refrigerant charge as well as track down and repair leaks.

Assuring guest house comfort for overnight visitors is entirely possible during the summer months by using your current HVAC system or using smaller, room-sized equipment. Today’s cooling products are energy efficient, easy to install and effective and designed for multiple situations.

A Separate Building

The easiest and most energy efficient way to cool a separate guest house is with a ductless mini split heat pump. Mini splits don’t require any ductwork — leaving more livable square footage — are simple to install, and provide exceptional cooling and heating efficiency.

If the guest house is small, consider cooling it with a wall, window, or portable air conditioner. These units provide cooling in rooms as small as 150 square feet. If you live in a neighborhood with a homeowner’s association, be sure that they allow window or wall air conditioners. Many do not, since the exterior portion of the air conditioners can be visible from the street.

Portable air conditioners need exterior venting, but they use a nonpermanent hose or vent that can be installed in a location discreet from the street. Once your guests leave or cooling season is over, simply remove the hose.

Guest Suite Inside Your Home

Some homes in the area have separate guest suites as part of the home’s footprint. Options for guest house comfort include all the options for standalone structures, or you can:

• Extend the existing system. If the guest area in your home isn’t serviced by your current HVAC system, your contractor can determine if it has enough capacity to cool the guest area.
• Install a zoning system. Zoning your home involves dividing it into separate areas and putting each one on its own thermostat. A zoning system lets everyone select their preferred temperatures for maximum comfort. You can also shut the entire guest suite off when it’s not in use, which saves energy.

As any homeowner can attest, your energy bill is something you are constantly thinking about. The energy that we use at any given time and the costs involved experience a series of ups and downs with each season. But, how does weather affect your spending?

How Summer Affects Your Energy Bill

As the heat rises during the summer months, your need for more cooling will obviously increase. Here in sunny California, some days during the summer season can be absolutely brutal. Cooling costs will often skyrocket, especially if your home is sizable.

How Severe Storms Affect Your Energy Bill

During times of extreme weather, there’s a good chance that your heating equipment will kick in to fight the sudden cold. Even though this is typically short-lived, these abrupt drops in temperature can force your heating system to work especially hard to maintain a comfortable temperature.

What You Can Do About It

The good news is that there are steps you can take to ensure that these changes in weather will have as minimal of an effect as possible. Here are some quick tips that you can use to control your energy bill:

• Get your HVAC equipment checked by a professional technician to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness.
• Change each system’s air filter to make sure it isn’t clogged and can handle the changes in weather.
• Consider installing a zoning system, which will allow you to heat or cool only the occupied areas of your home.
• Utilize gas appliances over electric ones since gas costs considerably less in most cases.
• Weather-proof your home by sealing any air leaks that you find, especially ones around your doors and windows.
• If costs are especially high, get advice directly from your energy supplier to learn the best tips and tricks to saving energy.

When your attic doesn’t have enough insulation, your home can lose heat. This causes your heating system to run more frequently, leading to higher energy bills. Not having enough attic insulation can also result in drafty areas, making your home uncomfortable. Use the following information to help you understand more about insulating your attic.

Do You Have Enough Insulation?

When figuring out your budget for attic insulation, you’ll first need to determine whether or not you have enough insulation. You can do this by measuring how thick your current insulation is. If you have fiberglass or rock wool insulation that measures less than 11 inches or cellulose insulation that measures less than eight inches, you’ll most likely need to add more. Keep in mind that homes in the San Diego area typically need attic insulation with R-values that range between R-30 and R-60.

Types of Insulation

When choosing insulation for your home, pay attention to factors such as your attic layout and local climate. Insulation for attics comes in the following types:

• Rolls and batts — This insulation, which is typically made from fiberglass or another kind of mineral fiber, can be used for attic joists.
• Loose-fill — This insulation contains loose pieces of fiberglass, cellulose or other fibers that are blown into attic areas that are difficult to reach.
• Rigid foam — This type of insulation has a higher R-value, which means it offers greater insulating properties than other materials. Rigid foam is well-suited to attic hatches and other areas, such as exterior wall sheathing.
• Foam-in place — This insulation comes in pressurized cans and can be sprayed onto attic surfaces in order to reduce air leaks.

When it comes to installing insulation, there are several safety factors to consider, such as wearing protective gear and keeping insulation far enough away from recessed lights. Having professionals handle this project helps reduce the risk of injury or damage to your home.