When you think of energy efficiency, you think of the appliances in your home, switching off lights or keeping your HVAC in Atlanta well-maintained. Few homeowners realize their home’s foundation affects their energy costs. However, the structure of your home plays a major role in how high your heating and cooling bills are. Discover some ways your heating and cooling bills can be affected by your home’s foundation.
Air Sealing Issues
One of the biggest ways your home’s foundation can affect your energy costs and stop your HVAC in Atlanta from operating the way it should is air sealing issues. You want a home with a tight building envelope, so your HVAC system can do its job efficiently. What this means is the foundation of the home is sealed tightly, and no outside air gets through cracks in your home. Cold or hot air seeping through the cracks in a foundation that isn’t airtight will cause your HVAC unit to work harder to keep up. This puts unneeded wear and tear on your unit and costs energy.
Can Throw Your HVAC Unit Off Balance
While small foundation issues can cause air sealing issues and other problems you don’t want to deal with, extreme foundation issues can seriously throw your HVAC unit off balance. This means your ducts may separate from one another, which will eventually lead to balance and leveling issues with your unit itself. This, in turn, will lead to the decreased efficiency with your HVAC unit and increased energy costs.