Just before we left for Taiwan, we finally had a radiant heat barrier installed in our attic. We’d been talking about it for years but were skeptical of the dramatic claims of energy savings.
The very day it was installed, we were positive we could notice a difference in the cooling pattern in the house. “Hot spots†were no longer hot, and the cooler seemed to be coming on less often and for shorter periods of time.
Because we left for Taiwan, our electric bill for June (about May 12-Jun 12) covered a period of time when no one was home and the cooler was set very high. Also, the Bill for July (Jun 12-Jul 12) was the same way.
Upon our return, it became obvious that the barrier had changed one thing very drastically: My office, which is very long and only has one, inadequate vent at the far side, was no longer being cooled. The temperature at the thermostat was coming down too fast and cutting off the air conditioning before my office could equalize.
We normally keep the temperature at 81º, and the far side of my office, where I have my desk, could not be brought below 90º. On July 4th, I broke down and bought a window AC unit for the office, knowing that this would diminish any potential savings I might get from the radiant heat barrier.
August’s bill is finally here. It covers a period of time when we were all home and the new AC was running every day during the month.
Results: Compared to last year, during the same time period, our energy usage is down 22%. Outdoor temperatures were slightly cooler this year than last, but only less than 3%.
At this point, I’m willing to make a tentative conclusion that the radiant heat barrier works as advertised and if things continue at this current rate, we might be on for a savings of $1,000 in the first year. At that rate, we’ll recoup the investment in under three years.
I’m not complaining about that.
1 thought on “Radiant Heat Barrier”
Comments are closed.