Winter Months Mean Heat Loss In The Basement

As the season of energy efficiency draws near

, there are often many consumers asking what they can do to preserve the tightening budget of their households. Heating is usually one of the first places people look to save money in the winter months. Saving money with newer and updated HVAC units, as well as maximizing efficiency, can spell substantial savings for all homeowners. There are many ways to increase energy savings.

Some money savers people can employ is proper insulation in walls and attics as well as sealing around doors and windows. However, one of the more unnoticed issues is heat preservation in basements. The whole idea of preserving heat in a basement may seem to be a bit unimportant. Everyone knows heat rises, and many basements are not finished. Most furnaces and HVAC systems run upstairs with very little exposure in the basement as well, so you might ask "What's all the fuss about basements?" The fact is that just as heat rises, so too does cold.

A draft in the basement often leads to cold air making its way to the main part of the house. The cold air in a basement can also make a furnace work much harder to maintain against the elements. It can make floors colder and as the cold rises into the living spaces, it cools the warm air provided by the HVAC system.

The first visible sign in recognizing this would be the realization that though the thermostat has been set on 74 degrees, after a while the actual temperature stays at 72 degrees. The second sign would be noticing that the furnace seems to run often. When the furnace seems to be running frequently and the temperature outside is not extremely cold, then it is easy to surmise that something's wrong somewhere. Most people check the windows and doors and attic for heat loss, have the furnace maintained, and wrap their hot water heater to preserve heat. After these items are complete, they often feel they have done all that is necessary.

These, of course, are sound preservation strategies. But, if water pipes have cold air pouring in on them from a drafty basement, then they have failed to preserve an important area of heat. By the time the water reaches a person in the shower, it has cooled and will require the hot water to be turned up. Additionally, if the furnace is constantly kept in a cold drafty area this is counterproductive to keeping hot water hot and to the transportation of heat. Drafty basements are the cause of substantial heat loss in many HVAC systems. In truth the drafty basement causes of systems to work harder at ensuring proper heat is maintained; and this, of course, means more energy dollars are wasted.

by: Christine Harrell

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