Comfenergy Case Studies: Culpeper VA High Energy Bills
Challenge
This home in Culpeper VA was often too cold in certain rooms in the winter and too hot in those same rooms in the summer. Specifically the rooms on the top floor of the house that pushed out over top of the front porch. The homeowner called an HVAC company to come help solve the problem and spent thousands of dollars adding new and additional HVAC units getting as many as 3 units running at the same time. This did not solve the comfort problems and it only lead to much higher energy costs for the homeowners, nearly doubling their energy use. After years of high energy bills and no results when they turned up the AC when it was hot or the heat when it was cold, they called us to try and find a solution that would last.
Solution
After having a free Home Performance Inspection done by our sales pro Eric, it became easy to see what was leading to the different temperatures in the different rooms of the house. The design of the home, as unique as it was, had lead to these issues. Rooms on the front of the home, including 2 bathrooms, shared the ceiling of the front porch with their floors. External air was able to make its way into the rooms above, through outdoor can lights on the porch and with a lack of proper insulation, it all added up to be the problem the homeowner was trying to fix. Additionally, the homeowners master bedroom was above their large, 3 car garage. More unconditioned air from the garage was able to makes its way into the room above and make it hot in summer and cold in winter. All in all, the home simply wasn't keeping unconditioned air from outside from coming in, and the home was allowing conditioned air to escape the rooms it was intended to heat or cool. Spray foam, air sealing and added insulation in the attic would all help to solve these issues. Having the walls and ceiling of the garage packed with insulation would help with the master bedroom above it. Creating a better envelope for the home to have control over the air inside. This will reduce the need for the HVAC units to constantly run and will save the homeowners thousands of dollars over the years.
