Summer is just around the corner. And if this summer is anywhere as hot as the winter was warm in most of the US, then we could be in for a sweltering one. The DIY experts at Stack Exchange are here to help you make sure your home is prepared. How can I determine if I need more attic insulation to keep cool in summer? I live in the desert of southern California so it can get pretty hot in the summer (110°F is not uncommon). I would like to lower my electric bill, but more to the point, I want to ensure that our house is comfortable without the air conditioning running all the time. — dark fader (originally asked here)Insulation is always good, hot or cold. There are a lot of other considerations to save energy and keep cool. Air leaks, unprotected windows, and ventilation are also important factors. Perhaps you can find an energy audit professional that is not in the business of selling you a product, but rather an honest evaluation and recommendations for your specific situation.

Also, keep in mind: there are still some Federal energy tax credits available and perhaps some State ones in your area— Answered by shirlock homesWhat kind of insulation do you currently have in your attic? Head on up there and check it out. If it's batt insulation — large units of fiberglass — then that information will be printed on either the paper facing or the insulation itself. If it's loose fill insulation, which is far more common in attics, then you can usually figure out what the product is (pink, yellow, or white and very itchy = fiberglass, dirty grey = greenfiber, white and not very itchy = cellulose) and find it's value per inch on this handy table of R values. For best performance, I'd go up to R-60. In a home built by your average builder in the past decade, R-30 meets code. Adding blown-in insulation, which you can do over fiberglass batts, is extremely cheap if you DIY ... although it's not a pleasant job to do. Rental of the machine from Home Depot or Lowe's is usually free with the purchase of a certain number of bales of insulation, and greenfiber especially is cheap.

To bring my 1600 sq. ft. ranch up to R-60 would only cost me a couple hundred dollars in materials. Twenty greenfiber bales at $11 each gets you a free 24 hour blower rental at Home Depot. It's by far the messiest DIY project I've ever done. Make sure you wear a respirator - not just a dust mask. The dust was so thick that I couldn't see much more than 5 feet in front of me at one point. A headlamp would also be a good idea, since you'll need one hand for the hose and the other for balance.average cost central ac unitsDo check at all ends of your attic. how to clean a window unit air filterYou might find that the areas close to the attic access are R-30 to meet code, but areas farther away might have less. my ac unit doesn't turn off

I've known a few builders to be stingy with the insulation. One home I helped a friend with here in Houston had less than four inches of insulation in most of the attic.One caution point is to make sure that during the process of adding insulation that any attic ventilation that you may have at the soffits is not blocked off. Soffit air is essential to the ventilation of your attic, if your home is designed that way. I would recommend installing Berger AccuVent baffles over every soffit vent before adding more insulation. Last but not least, consider coating your roof with a reflective coating. You might need to get a contractor to do this, but it's simple and straightforward work. In the Inland Empire, nothing is more effective than keeping the solar rays from heating your house in the first place. Unfortunately, many find these roof coatings to be unsightly, so you might have to check with your HOA if you have one before applying anything.— Answered by Karle Katzke Get a non-contact IR thermometer and walk around your home on a hot or cold day.

Point it at walls and the ceiling, around doors, windows, vents, outlets, any other protrusions in the structure, the lowest floor, and corners. Look for places where the measurement varies from the room temperature. Note that glass tends to reflect temperature readings from somewhere else, so measure the window frame, blinds, curtains, or something else close by. This exercise is also helpful for balancing HVAC systems between multiple rooms, so keep track of the readings as you go around your home. If you find the ceiling beneath the attic is well above room temperature, then it's a good idea to add more insulation there. But you may find your money is better spent insulating outlets and switch plates, adding weather stripping to your doors and windows, or fixing a vent's back flow preventer.Think you know the secret to removing rust from old tools? Leave your suggestion in the comments or submit it at Stack Exchange, an expert knowledge exchange on diverse topics from software programming to cycling to scientific skepticism.

Title photo provided by Stack Exchange. There are two ways to solve this problem. The easiest and cost-free way is to simply partially close down all the other vents to force the air to flow more readily to the "starving" register. This is a primitive but effective way to, as they say in the biz, "balance the system". This is a common way to make seasonal changes in a two floor house with a single zone. winter months, you want more heat downstairs, but it tends to rise upstairs. partially closing the upstairs registers, the downstairs registers blow more heated air… which eventually rises upstairs anyway. In the summer, the reverseThe upstairs registers are left open wide, while the downstairs onesOf course, you will have to fine tune this method through trial and error to get the best seasonal balance. The other way, which would require more work and expense, would be to install a boosting fan for that register. These are designed to turn on when they sense

air movement or a temperature change. They can be installed as part of the heating system, and are tied into the central unit. There is another type that I have seen available in some mail order catalogues and home stores. installed in place of the register, has a temperature-sensitive switch and receives power from a nearby outlet. It's tough to face reality sometimes. Though we would like our homes... inanimate objects that they are... to knuckle under to our wills, Mother Nature has a way to keeping us honest. From your letter it is unclear if anyone checked to see if the ceiling above the garage was insulated. these spaces have room for up to 10 inches of insulation and only have a paltryIf your home was built before the 1970's, chances are having more insulation pumped into the space between the garage ceiling and your son's floor will work wonders! You may be right that the soft duct is slightly crushed. It is also possible,

though, that the flexible duct is just too long. Those ducts cause lots of resistance to air movement... far more than rigid metal ducts...which might explain the low air volume received at a distant location. You can try to compensate by "balancing the system". fancy name for the creative closing... fully or partially... of all registers to the colder rooms (during AC season, that is... the reverse for the heatingThis forces the HVAC fan to overcome the resistance in the duct and force more air to the distant locations... in your case the office! This simple method of balancing is "seasonal", meaning that you may have to change your adjustments with the seasons depending on whether you are heating or It's tough to face reality sometimes. Though we would like our homes... inanimate objects that they are... to knuckle You must sleep with the bedroom door closed at night! really, since it offers you some protection from smoke in the hall in case of a