Why Are My Energy Bills So High?

If you’ve done all you can to improve the energy consumption in your home and your energy bills are still high, you need to check your foundation. Because of the stack effect, 50% of the air you breathe in your home comes from your foundation. While this does mean that all the dust, mold spores, and humidity in the foundation rise into your home, it also means that whatever cold or warm air that is in your basement or crawl space will also rise and change the temperature of your house. During the summer, the humid air from the outside enters the foundation and rises, since warm air is lighter than cold air. Your AC has a difficult time keeping the house cool if it constantly has to combat the warm foundation air, causing it to overwork itself and consume more energy.

During the winter, the opposite happens. Cold air enters the basement or crawl space, and because cold air is so dense, it actually helps the warm air rise up to your upper floors instead of staying in your living area. You can tell when your foundation is causing this problem when you wake up to cold floors in the winter, warmer second floors of the house, and sudden cold drafts. Luckily, this can be fixed with proper foundation waterproofing and insulation. If you can’t control the humidity in your foundation first, you will not be able to control the temperature.

When thinking of waterproofing a basement, many homeowners don’t think beyond a sump pump for flooding, but humidity control is just as important. A vapor barrier can prevent water vapor from permeating through your concrete walls. A dehumidifier can collect the moisture in the air and keep the air pure and clean. Both of these solutions combined reduce your energy consumption by approximately 25%, but nothing helps lower your energy bills more than a good insulation panel like ExTremeBloc™. Insulation prevents air from going in and out of your foundation, so it’s the best tool you can use to tackle your air circulation problem.