How to Keep an Old House Cool During the Summer
Old houses have a lot of charm, but they can also have a lot of problems. One of the biggest problems we hear from our clients living in older houses in the Greater Cincinnati area is that they’re impossible to keep cool. No matter how hard they crank the air conditioning up, the house stays hot, stuffy, and uncomfortable—and now they’re stuck with an obscene AC bill and a hot house!
Most of the solutions for keeping an old house cool that you find online are short-term fixes, like hanging up blackout curtains or simply running a fan. There’s nothing wrong with suggestions like these, but they aren’t going to solve the problem, they’ll mask the symptoms. If you want your house to maintain a consistent, comfortable temperature in every room, you need to find out how heat is getting in during the summer and how it’s escaping during the winter. Then, you have to stop that heat movement with insulation and air sealing.
Insulation & Air Sealing are the Key to a Cool House
A lot of people assume their house isn’t staying cool because their air conditioner isn’t working properly. Sometimes, the AC is the problem, but it often has nothing to do with it. What really causes problems like a hot second floor or stuffy house in the summer is poor insulation and air sealing.
Insulation Blocks Out Heat
Insulation works by slowing down heat transfer. In the winter, it stops heat from seeping out of your house, which keeps it warm. But insulation also works in the summer. When it’s hot outside, insulation stops the outside heat from coming into your house so it stays cooler. If you don’t have enough insulation, your house will never stay cool no matter how often you run your AC.
Air Sealing Stops Air Infiltration
Air sealing is the second piece of the puzzle and your insulation won’t work to its full potential without it. Insulation can only stop conductive heat transfer (heat that moves between materials, like when hot coffee heats up the mug it’s in). But heat moves in a lot of ways, including through the air (convection). Air sealing closes up gaps and cracks in your home’s construction so that hot air can’t seep in during the summer or out during the winter.
Where to Insulate an Old House?
There are a few key areas you should add insulation to your old house to help it stay cooler in the summer.
Attic - If you’re only going to insulate one part of your house, insulate your attic. Attic insulation is the low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency upgrades and will likely have the highest impact on your home’s overall comfort in the summer and winter.
Crawlspace - The bottom of your house is also an important place to insulate and air seal. We recommend taking it a step further with full crawl space encapsulation. Encapsulation improves comfort and energy efficiency, and it also protects your house against moisture, mold, and pests.
Exterior Walls - If your house was built before 1970, there’s a good chance you have zero insulation in your walls. Dense-pack insulation can be installed without tearing down walls and is the best option for exterior wall insulation.
Insulation Installation in Greater Cincinnati
Before you start making insulation upgrades, you have to know where you actually need more or better insulation. If you go in blind, you could end up wasting a lot of time and money without solving the problem. That’s why we start every insulation installation with a free energy audit. An energy audit gives you a detailed look at your home’s insulation and air leakage so you can see exactly where the inefficiencies are and make targeted improvements.
Ready to get started? Reach out to Sustainergy Cooperative today. We’re a local, worker-owned insulation company serving homeowners in the Greater Cincinnati area, northern Kentucky, and Illinois. Our recommendations are based on testing and science, not guess work, to ensure you get real results that improve your home. Plus, our technicians are worker-owners with a stake in the company so you get the highest quality service because your success is their success!
