Heat Loss From Your House

It is nice to stay warm and cozy in our homes when temperatures outside drop below freezing. We can turn up the heat, put another log to the fire, and dress with an extra layer of clothing. Yet while our furnace is doing its job, the heat produced is making its way outside. Some buildings are insulated and resist heat loss through the ceilings, walls, floors, windows, and doors. Yet many buildings and homes in Los Alamos were built before 1975, when adequate home insulation wasn't installed. For example Mountain School is made of cinder blocks, which do not provide insulation for the classrooms. The rooms get cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

PEEC is located in part of a school building that was built for kindergarten classes. About two years ago, we received a grant to add insulation to our ceiling. After adding the insulation, our part of the building stayed much warmer in the winter. Then one day Matthew Dickens, the Los Alamos County Energy and Water Conservation Director, pointed out something interesting to me. He told me to watch PEEC's roof after a snowstorm. I did. What I saw was that the roof on PEEC's end of the building was covered in snow, while the other end belonging to the school district was snow free. The difference was the result of the installed roof insulation and subsequent diminished heat loss through our roof. Our portion of the roof was colder and the snow didn't melt. While the other end was losing enough heat to melt the snow off the roof much quicker.

Ever since then, I have been looking at roofs in my neighborhood and thinking about which homes are loosing more heat through their roofs than others. You can do this too. You would want to pick a few roofs facing about the same direction, having the same amount of shade, and made of similar materials such as metal or asphalt shingles. Then after the next snowfall, keep track of the rate of snowmelt on the roofs. You'll be able to make a good prediction of which homes have better insulation.

You can visit the Los Alamos Public Utilities web site to see a history of your home's energy and water use. Remember that roof insulation plays an important role in reducing the amount of energy you consume for heating and cooling. The cost of insulation will pay for itself in reduced energy bills.