Ice Dams Are an Insulation Problem, Not a Gutter Problem
Ice dams form because heat leaking from living space into the attic warms the roof deck unevenly, melting snow that refreezes at the cold eaves.
The Noises a Heat Pump Makes, and Which Ones Matter
Most sounds a heat pump makes are the equipment doing exactly what it’s designed to do: shifting between heating and cooling, clearing frost, moving…
Looking After a Heat Pump: Twice a Year, Because It Never Rests
A heat pump needs a professional look twice a year, not once, because it never gets a season off.
How Much Attic Insulation Do You Need? The Published Table
The retrofit target for your attic comes from one published U.S. ENERGY STAR table, built on the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, and it…
How to Find the Air Leaks in Your House
The biggest air leaks in most houses aren’t at the windows. They’re in the attic floor, around the plumbing stacks, at the top of interior walls, and…
How Cold Is Too Cold for a Heat Pump?
There’s no single temperature at which a heat pump quits. What changes is how much heat is left in the outdoor air for the system to move indoors, and…
Why the Floor Is Cold, and What It Is Telling You
A cold floor means the surface touching your feet is losing heat faster than your body can replace it, and that happens two ways: something cold sits…
Ice on a Heat Pump: When It Is Normal and When It Is Not
A layer of frost on the outdoor unit during winter is normal. It comes and goes as the system runs its own defrost cycle, usually clearing within an hour.
Insulation and Ventilation Are Not Opposites
Insulation and ventilation work as a team, not as competitors. The insulation layer at the ceiling keeps conditioned air inside the house.
Ground-Source Heat Pumps: The Same Idea, a Different Reservoir
A geothermal heat pump, also called a ground-source heat pump, runs the same refrigerant cycle as the heat pump mounted outside a typical house.