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Energy Saving Ideas For The Home: Attic Tents & Return Vents

Use these energy saving ideas for better insulation and lower utility bills

Energy saving ideas are useful at any time of the year. Be it hot or cold outside there is always a way or multiple ways to save money and run your home more efficiently. McCauley Electric would like to make you aware of some energy saving ideas that get overlooked. Maybe we can help take a pocket change off your monthly bills.

The Attic Tent: No one likes to take a trip up to the attic. It’s dark and somewhat mysterious with its rows of insulation and the monster of heating and cooling…the furnace. Although we seldom visit the attic, it is wise to evaluate that are of the house and make sure it is well ventilated. We touched on this subject in previous posts; however, we didn’t tell you about attic tents. An attic tent is used to reduce heat loss from the attic to the rest of the house. It is simple to install and an affordable way to better insulate your home. An attic tent has multiple functions; it insulates and seals attic stairs, attic scuttle holes, attic doors and knee wall doors. Heat rises – yes!- but it travels throughout the home and needs to be reduced in order for the heating and cooling system to work less. Using an attic tent can keep warm air trapped in the attic, away from the rest of the home thus lowering your utility bills.

The Return Vents: What’s that extremely dusty box cut out in your ceiling? Oh my bad…that’s your return vent. If you can’t recognize the return vents in your home it’s probably because you never cleaned them. If the air in your home is stale, it’s probably because of grimy return vents. Let’s talk about it. Cleaning the return vents in your home can reduce the amount of dust and other airborne particles that are sucked into your heating and cooling system. When these particles get trapped in your hvac system, they can cause the unit to work harder, thus causing the life span of the equipment to deplete quicker. Who wants to replace a heating and cooling system sooner than they have to?

Trust us, you don’t want that expense. A simple monthly cleaning of the return vents in your home can help reduce the amount of air trash floating in your home. Grab a bucket of soapy water and wipe those vents down. You might want to vacuum the vents out too. Try to get as much dirt as possible.

And it is also very important to clean or replace your air filter. A clogged, or very dirty filter, will reduce the airflow into the hvac system. The reduced airflow will make the hvac system run longer to do the same job it would normally only take minutes to do. The longer your heating or cooling  system has to run, the more money you are wasting. Replacing a dirty air filter can save you hundreds of dollars a year.

So there you have three helpful energy saving ideas from the experts at McCauley Electrical Service. Join us next time as we cover motorized shades to reduce the heat intake at your home or office. Remember to call McCauley Electric at (678) 324-3117 if you need immediate electrical repair and installation services.

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