HVAC and Insulation From a Working Tech
Dana Sorensen · June 28, 2026
Search “attic cooling fix” online and you’ll run into two opposite camps: one tells you a powered attic fan is the quickest way to pull heat out and take pressure off your AC, the other insists passive ridge-and-soffit venting is all you need and that electric fans are a waste of money. The powered-fan camp … Read more
Dana Sorensen · June 27, 2026
My own house is the test case I keep coming back to whenever this question comes up. Two stories, four bedrooms, built in 2004, one HVAC system trying to serve both floors off a single thermostat mounted downstairs. Last August I finally walked it with a probe thermometer just to settle the argument with myself. … Read more
Dana Sorensen · June 27, 2026
Here’s the blunt truth: a maintenance visit that skips the one part actually causing your problem isn’t maintenance at all — it’s a wasted afternoon and a bill you shouldn’t have paid. That’s exactly what a homeowner learned last October when her furnace quit overnight, right as outdoor lows sank into the 30s, just six … Read more
Dana Sorensen · June 23, 2026
Guess wrong on vapor barrier insulation when to use it, and the mistake won’t show up for months — sometimes years — by which point you’re looking at a repair bill several times larger than the material would have cost. That’s the stake sitting underneath what sounds like a simple question. If you’re already unsure … Read more
Dana Sorensen · June 23, 2026
Pull up a photo I still have saved from a job in Gilbert, Arizona, and you’ll see exactly why this topic makes me want to grab homeowners by the shoulders before they sign a contract. The picture shows a sheet of radiant barrier foil lying flat across an attic floor, shiny side facing up, with … Read more
Dana Sorensen · June 19, 2026
A mismatched air filter can quietly wreck a perfectly healthy furnace — and that’s exactly what greeted me last month at a house in Edina. The homeowner was fed up: his electric bill had jumped 18% over the winter, the upstairs bedroom stayed stubbornly cold, and the equipment seemed to never shut off. A quick … Read more