If bone-chilling winter days in the Summit NJ area find you and your family huddled in one room during the day or buried under several layers of blankets at night – even though your thermostat reads 72 degrees – you most likely have a heat distribution problem in your home. A thermostat that is close to a heating source such as a radiator or forced air vent can fool your furnace into thinking that the whole house is comfortably warm. But goose bumps tell a different story.
As the homeowner, there are several things you can do to improve the warmth of your home before calling a professional like Stashluk:
- Seal door leaks with weather stripping
- Make sure all storm windows are closed in older homes
- Make sure your windows are locked, especially on older windows the lock will help minimize or eliminate any air that is leaking through
- Close blinds and curtains – they offer another layer of insulation
- Check for drafts on very windy days
A common problem that Stashluk often finds in drafty homes is poor heat balance. If your thermostat is in a warmer part of the home your colder rooms will never warm up. Parts of your home that face north, sections of rooms that bump out and have three exposed walls, or rooms over or next to your garage can be difficult to heat in any environment. The older homes in the towns surrounding Summit such as Chatham, Millburn, New Providence, Berkeley Heights and others are especially susceptible to drafts coming from every direction.
Amending Insulation Deficits in an Older House
Beyond what you can do yourself to reduce drafts, the insulation that is in your walls can sag and deteriorate over time. The insulation standards when your older home was built were nothing like they are today. Doors and windows in older homes can be incredibly drafty as air skirts through and around the framing. If your garage is attached it may not have any insulation at all. So every time you open the garage door it’s like opening the freezer door in your kitchen.
There are also structural insulation problems which can let constant drafts enter your home as well as let heat escape. Your house may not be sealed with proper insulation at the roofline or foundation, around windows, behind sinks, at your air vent from your kitchen cooktop, a poorly insulated crawl space, or your dryer vent. All of these air leaks can lead to cold rooms and, even worse, frozen pipes that can burst. Be sure to check and make sure all windows in the basement are fully closed and any drafty crevices or cracks are properly sealed around the house. All it takes is a very cold draft to turn an inside pipe into a frozen pipe. If you are in an older home, make sure your storm windows are down. We often get calls for frozen pipes due to drafty basement windows.
What can Stashluk do to help fix your insulation problems?
A Stashluk technician can visit your home and conduct an energy evaluation. Often it’s possible to improve existing heating systems so that all areas of the house are properly heated. For example, some hot air systems have balancing dampers that are built in and can be calibrated for your comfort. In these situations Stashluk can adjust airflow rates to different rooms to better heat all areas of the home. Similarly, in a steam-heated home Stashluk can measure the air vents in all the rooms and adjust them accordingly for greater comfort. It’s worth noting that for steam it’s best to do this when the temperature drops to 35 degrees.
Another great solution is the addition of a split ductless heating system, which may turn out to be the most efficient way to go. These systems can heat perpetually cold rooms or areas of your home by adding a new zone and full temperature control in the area.
If your Stashluk technician finds that the main culprit for your drafty, chilly home is an insulation problem they will refer you to a trusted professional for blown-in insulation. This process will provide a greater R-value (an insulating material’s resistance to conductive heat flow) and tighten up air leaks around windows and doors, as well.
Is your home heating and comfort out of balance? Call Stashluk today.
Stashluk has served the Summit and Chatham areas for over 70 years. We offer the most up-to-date expertise and the latest advances in home comfort technology. If you’re having a problem with your home heating, give us a call at 908.277.6200 to schedule a service appointment or reach us via email at info@stashluk.com.
