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Why Can’t You Get an Even Temperature Inside Your Home?

adjusting home thermostat

Your home should always provide comfort, and even during the coldest months, you want to be warm in every inch of the house. Unfortunately, many homeowners struggle with uneven temperatures inside the home. If you’ve noticed some areas are cooler than others, check out these potential reasons.

There Are Too Many Air Leaks

Air leaks pose a particular problem during the colder months because they allow cooled air to enter the home and affect the indoor temperature. During the summer, however, heated air may leak inside to make the home a little warmer. Air leaks can be found everywhere, but they commonly include the attic hatch, wiring holes, plumbing vents, recessed lights, furnace flue, windows, and doors.

Air leaks are hard to spot, so you may need to look for the signs. Naturally, a drafty house will create cold zones and high utility bills, but it can affect your health too. As the air enters through these tiny holes, it brings dust, which can lead to irritation, especially in those with allergies or asthma.

Luckily, if you can spot the air leaks, they are relatively easy to fix. In most cases, you simply need to repair old caulking. Alternatively, you can use a spray foam insulation. Since these chemicals expand as they dry, it’s a great way to fully seal hard-to-reach holes.

There Isn’t Enough Insulation

R-value is a tool to measure how well a material withstands the transfer of heat. In other words, it measures the insulating properties. Even drywall, wood, stone, etc. have some insulating properties, but it’s not enough to keep your home’s temperature comfortable. This is why you also need lots of insulation inside walls, floors, ceilings, and the attic.

Different parts of your home need different R-values, but the attic usually requires a lot of insulation. In fact, depending on where you live, you may need an R-Value of R-30 to R-60. Without insulation, this value would be impossible to reach because the building materials have such a low R-Value. For example, asphalt roofing shingles only have an R-Value of about R-0.44.

Insulation, however, can be as high as R-5.50 to R-19.11. You’ll still need quite a few inches of insulation to reach R-30 to R-60. When adding insulation, don’t forget to check other areas of your home, including the basement, walls and ductwork.

The House Is Too Big

Finally, the problem may just be that your house is a little too big. This may happen if you have rooms far from the furnace. For example, if you have a three-story house with the furnace in the basement, the top floor may be too cold during winter because it’s so far from the furnace. By the time the heated air reaches these rooms, it’s cold a bit.

If this is the case, you may need to consider getting a second furnace or a mini-split system for the affected rooms. Installing a second furnace can be costly, so it may only be a good idea if you have a lot of rooms that stay too cold.

On the other hand, your home may not be too big; your furnace may be too small. When this happens, the system just isn’t powerful enough to generate enough heat. Not only does this make it uncomfortable inside the home, but it can affect your energy bills. In this case, getting a new, bigger system may be your best choice.

Ideally, sealing a few holes will fix uneven temperatures inside the home, but in some cases, a new furnace is necessary. If you would like to know more about heating and cooling, or if you need to request a quote on a new furnace, contact us at Campbell & Company today.

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