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Remember your attic? You know...that big area underneath the roof. By paying attention to your attic area you can reap the benefits in energy savings, which in turn, saves you money. Plus, you may also locate some structural problems and if caught early enough save you money by fixing these problem areas before major issues arise.

The biggest problem with attics is that you are dealing with an area that you don’t spend much, if any, time in. However, your attic maybe the biggest energy guzzler in your house and it deserves your undivided attention.

The attic area in your home is the place where most heat transfer occurs. It’s important to remember that warm air in your attic is constantly attempting to move to a cooler location.

In the summer the warm air in your attic looks for holes and gaps to move into. In this instance, the cool areas are in the air-conditioned rooms within the house. You have already spent money to provide a cooler home during the hot months of the summer, so why won’t you spend a little more to prevent the warm air from entering your home?

During the winter months, the warm air in your home is attempting to escape through the attic and any other hole in the home’s exterior to the cooler outdoor temperatures.

According to the United States Department of Energy (DOE), 42 percent of the energy we use in our homes is for heating and cooling. Upgrading the insulation in your attic could reduce that percentage by as much as 20 percent.

In 2006, the DOE changed its recommended insulation factors for north Missouri. Prior to that date, the DOE recommended attic areas be insulated to a factor of R-38. Now the DOE is recommending R-49 levels for this part of the state.

Identify Attic Issues With Home Energy Audit

One of the best things you can do is to have an energy audit conducted on your home. Your cooperative has two certified home energy audit employees that can identify where you need to insulate, where you need to caulk, and where you may need to make changes in your lifestyle.

You want you unfinished attic to be cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Doesn’t make much sense, does it?

Ideally, air enters the attic at the soffit vent level and exhausts at the ridge level. In winter, the natural ventilation reduces the potential for ice damming, which occurs when snowmelts off a roof from an attic that is too warm, re-freezing at the gutter and forming an ice dam that can damage the roof.

In the summer months, the natural air flow moves hot air out of the attic, protecting roof shingles and removing moisture that could other wise result in mold, mildew and wood rot, and reducing the effectiveness of the insulation.

Plug Attic Leaks

You may have adequate insulation in your attic and still lose heat in the winter and cool air in the summer.

How? The insulation on the attic floor is covering cracks, gaps and holes where air is leaking upward from the rooms below.

Seal the big holes first. Look for leaks where inner and outer walls meet the attic floor.

If you have a finished attic, seal behind the kneewalls. If your insulation is fiberglass, dirt and stains will indicate where there are air leaks. Cellulose insulation doesn’t stain. Instead identify where there are light fixtures and interior walls beneath the attic floor.

It is most important to the seal the holes in the attic that lead down into the house, such as open wall tops and duct, plumbing or electrical runs. Plus, weatherstrip the attic hatch or pull-down stairway.

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