Tag: Saving Energy

12 Ways To Keep My House Cooler Without AC

The financial benefits for summer proofing your home will pay dividends each and every year.  Take a look at some of the options you can get a professional to install, or just good habits to keep you cool and comfortable during these hot summer months.

Best 3 Professional Ways To Keep My House Cooler Without AC

Radiant Barriers – This is a type of insulation that is installed in the attic of a house or attached to the rafters of the roof.  This reduces the air conditioning cost by keeping the attic a cooler space during the summer which means less heat in your house, and less need to keep the AC running all the time.

Foam Insulation – This industry leading insulation type minimizes air leakage to keep your air conditioning in the house instead of leaking out and wasting your money.   And the more of your air that stays in your house, the less that AC unit runs, and the more money that stays in your pocket.

Attic Ventilation – Attic Ventilation comes in two types and Eve Line Venting/Lower Air Intake and Fans.  These technologies help keep the attic itself cooler, which means less heat radiating down from the attic into your living space.

9 Other Ways To Keep My House Cooler Without Air Conditioning

Here are 9 great tips for keeping your home cooler without having to run your AC unit too much.  Using them all gives you the best edge against summer heat!

1. Keep The Blinds Closed

Draw the blinds and shades during the day – As much as we look forward to summer when the light actually starts to stream into our windows, it brings with it lots of heat.  If you’d like to reduce your electricity bill, pull them closed.  This is especially important when there is direct light on those windows.

2. Keep those fans going

They cost a lot less to run but they put the air directly on you in while you watch TV, read or while you are laying in bed getting that much needed rest.

3. Invest In Window Film

Invest a little money in some reflective window film. Much like your vehicle’s tint a reflective film can help guard your home and your pocket book against excessive AC costs.

4. Swap Out Light Bulbs

Switch out your light bulbs to CFL or LED bulbs.  Those old incandescent lights use more energy and actually produce a lot of heat themselves!

5. Keep Yourself Cool

Cool your house, cool yourself.  An important way to help ourselves weather the heat of the summer, especially here in Phoenix is to keep ourselves cool with plenty of water and icy beverages.

6. Dress for the heat

Wearing light colored and loose fitting clothing can go a long way for us to make the most of summer and keep our costs down not running the AC like crazy while we chill out in wool and sweats.

7. Wear A Wet Towel

A great trick for weathering the hot Arizona summers is a wet towel.  You just have to get it wet and then drape it around your neck, and apply it to your wrists and forehead for some welcomed relief from the heat.  This is a great trick for when you’re home, hiking, or just need to cool off.

8. Install Shade Elements

Invest in some natural shade outside; planting some trees that help shade your home from getting sun in the first place goes a long ways to helping keep you cool.  You can also install some shade sails or awnings to provide more shade.

9. Cook Outdoors

Another fun way to help keep the house cool and get some great food is to use that BBQ.  It keeps the heat out of the house and puts some great food on your plate at the same time.

Get Your Home Insulation Upgraded

Give the experts at Barrier Insulation a call to start saving money today or send us a request for information using our contact page.  We can inspect your home’s insulation and let you know the ways that we can improve your home’s thermal performance. Doing so means running your air conditioning less, and saving money on electricity. Give us a call today at 602-499-2922.

How Radiant Barriers Save Energy in Phoenix

How Radiant Barriers Save Energy in Phoenix

Are you searching for “Radiant Barrier Phoenix” while considering improving the insulation in your home?  This article is designed to answer the common questions people have and to improve your knowledge so you can make an informed investment in your home’s energy saving insulation.

To reduce summer heat radiant barriers are installed in the attics of many Phoenix homes. Radiant barriers are highly reflective materials that differ from standard insulation materials. This article explains in more detail how radiant barriers save energy in Phoenix homes.

What Do Radiant Barriers Do?

Without Radiant Barrier Insulation Phoenix AZ
With Radiant Barrier Insulation Phoenix AZ
Most of traditional insulation materials tend to absorb and slow the transfer of heat to keep the house cool. In contrast a radiant barrier simply reflects the heat away from the home. While radiant barriers do reflect heat away, they do not prevent conduction like traditional insulation materials.

How Do Radiant Barriers Work?

The natural property of heat is to expand and move to cooler areas. This is done by a combination of heat transfer methods. Convection, conduction, and radiation are the ways that heat travels. Conduction is when the heat travels physically through the material. Think of a pan on a stove, the heat is applied to the bottom of the pan, but many times the heat travels through the metal and up into the handle. Convection differs in the way that heat transfer through gasses or liquids. A hot surface heats the air or liquid around it and the gas or liquid itself transfers the heat. Radiant heat travels in straight lines away from the hot surfaces. It does so until it hits a solid surface that absorbs the energy.

While most traditional insulation systems rely on slowing the transfer of conductive heat, radiant barriers reflect heat. This reduces overall heat gain in the house. The sun’s radiant heat is the primary method of roofs and attics heating up. The sun heats up the roofing materials; they in turn conduct the heat through to the attic. The heat is then radiated from the hot roof into to cooler attic space and heats the floor of the attic.

A radiant barrier simply provides a barrier from the radiant heat transfer from the hot roof to the attic floor and air ducts in your attic. Radiant barriers are especially popular and effective in hotter climates like Phoenix, Arizona. This is because the primary concern for the southern and hotter regions of the country is keeping the heat out of the houses and energy bills lower for cooling our homes. Not containing the heat in our homes during the winter.

What Types Of Radiant Barriers Are There?

There are different makeups and brands of radiant barriers. Most feature a highly reflective aluminum foil material that is backed with different types of substrates. Plastic film, craft paper, oriented strand board, and even cardboard act as backings for radiant barriers. Some radiant barrier materials are even back with fibers to make handling easier and increase durability.

Radiant barriers need not be the only insulation method. They can be used to increase the thermal performance of any home. In some cases the radiant material is actually built into some insulation products to provide a simpler, yet drastically more effective insulating effect.

Effective Radiant Barrier Installation

As with any insulation material the effectiveness of radiant barriers relies on the quality of installation. Certified radiant barrier installers have the experience, and knowledge to make the most of your insulation investment.

With new build insulation it is quite easy for radiant barriers to be installed. Existing homes can have radiant barriers added, but special care and installation methods are used for these applications. Typically in new build applications radiant barriers are put in place between the rafters before the decking goes down. However it is possible to add them afterword from the inside of the attic. The radiant barrier is put between the rafters to control dust accumulation. Excessive dust on a radiant barrier will negatively affect thermal performance.

Experienced Phoenix Radiant Barrier Contractor

If you are building a home, or are just wanting to repair or replace a radiant barrier in your home get in touch with Arizona’s radiant barrier experts. Our goal is always to provide the most cost effective solutions that will save you money in both cold and hot weather for your home or business. Keeping the energy costs down is everyone’s priority and our products are aimed at helping you keep everyone comfortable without having to overspend on your energy bills.

Barrier Insulation – 602-499-2922 or

Tips for Saving Energy

Energy efficiency is growing ever more important in a day and age when our resources are dwindling and our way of life is getting more in line with what is best for the planet. Scientific advancements are constantly being applied to various areas of our every day lives and our ability to utilize the energy that we generate is improving exponentially. This means there are opportunities to save money on energy that are greater than ever before. Not all of us have the means to utilize these scientific advancements right away, but there are steps you can take to save money in order to put it towards these improvements that can greatly improve your every day life. Here are some tips:

To Reduce Heat:

  • During the warmer months, prevent as much natural light from entering your home as possible. The more light that enters your home, the more heat it will carry along with it. Keeping blinds and shades closed is highly recommended
  • Extend any window awnings to provide more shade around your windows
  • Use light bulbs that are more energy efficient. Standard light bulbs operate at warm temperatures that can raise the temperature inside your home.
  • Close the doors and cooling vents in any rooms that are not being used regularly. Open the vents and doors as needed.
  • BBQ as much as possible instead of using the oven inside of your home. Ovens produce massive levels of heat by their very nature and avoiding that heat radiating throughout the interior of your home is impossible.

Thermostat Tips:

  • Pick a comfortable setting and leave your thermostat locked on that setting at all times. It is much easier to maintain a temperature than it is to use heat or cooling to achieve a new temp level. If need be, change it only when you wake up and before you lay down for bed in the evening.
  • Contrary to what most believe, setting your thermostat to lower or higher temperatures in order to heat or cool faster does not work. Your central air unit will heat and cool at a steady rate which means that all you are doing is prolonging the time it will be running on top of setting yourself up to be uncomfortable once the temp it was set for is reached. The only way to fix that would be to set a new comfortable temp and make your system work to achieve it.
  • Keep heat producing appliances away from the thermostat. The heat that radiates from them will cause the thermostat to get false reading which will cause it to activate or deactivate depending on if you are heating or cooling.

Utilizing these tips can help you save a lot of money over time on your energy bills giving you more financial liquidity and freedom. On top of that you can use the savings to pay for improvements that can further increase the energy efficiency of your home via upgrades to things like insulation and appliances related to your central air system. In this day and age, updating your home to modern standards in regard to appliances, electrical systems, insulation, ventilation, and the materials used in the home can skyrocket your home’s ability to use energy efficiently. These kinds of improvements pay for themselves over time, making them a no brainer. The toughest part may be figuring out how to make the initial investments, but making certain behavioral changes can give you your starting capital for your series of home improvements.