Landscaping Strategies That Can Boost Your Home’s Insulation

Landscaping Strategies That Can Boost Your Home’s Insulation

Have you ever noticed how the tree-shaded, Los Angeles parking spaces in summer are always the first to fill up? Drivers know that having shade over their vehicles makes for a much cooler car as they leave to go home. That same concept can reduce your energy bills at home. Smart landscaping techniques will boost your home’s insulation and keep your indoor space cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

The sun rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest during the summer. Planting deciduous trees in both these areas can block those summer solar rays and help your insulation. Heat hitting the east in summer doesn’t have much time to warm up the home, but direct heat from the intense afternoon sun can be absorbed by your roof, penetrate the walls and insulation, and heat the interior space. If it isn’t practical to block the morning sun, at least plant trees where they will block sunshine from 2-5 p.m.

Deciduous trees will lose their leaves in winter and allow the sun to warm the home through the bare branches. This heat keeps walls and insulation warmer and helps retain indoor heat with less energy use.

Cold, prevailing winds in winter can be blocked by evergreen shrubs and bushes. As cold air hits the shrubs, the force of the wind is slowed and dispersed. Less heat is lost from the outside walls and this helps your insulation block out even more cold penetration. Leave a few feet between outside walls and shrubs or bushes for access space.

Also in winter, picket fencing can slow winter’s prevailing winds. The open spaces allow winds to pass through more slowly and blunt the cold attack on your outside walls. When using shrubs or fencing, place them where they won’t interfere with cooling summer breezes.

Proper landscaping can help lower energy bills in all seasons. For other ways to lower your energy costs, contact us at Air-Tro. We’re always happy to give you the benefit of our experience, knowledge and expertise.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about how landscaping can boost your home’s insulation and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Air-Tro Inc. services the greater Los Angeles area as well as the metro areas of Riverside and San Bernardino County.