If you’re tired of sky-high AC bills in the Vegas heat, you’re not alone. Many homes here leak energy continuously without homeowners even being aware of it. But a Vegas home inspection can help you fight back. An experienced Las Vegas home inspector knows exactly where to look for these hidden energy wasters in your walls, roof, windows, and doors.
Contact SuperTeam Services today and schedule an appointment with one of our experienced Las Vegas home inspectors. We can help find these problems so you can save money and make your home more comfortable, too.
Our Energy Battle in the Desert
Living in Las Vegas means learning how to live with the heat outside, but it also means battling it indoors. Our desert climate puts immense pressure on our homes’ energy systems. Unlike milder climates, where heating and cooling demands might balance out, Vegas homes face a relentless summer onslaught. This constant need for air conditioning can lead to shockingly high utility bills if your home isn’t energy efficient.
The way many Vegas homes are built can also contribute to energy loss. Stucco exteriors, while durable, can absorb and radiate heat if not properly insulated. Flat roofs, which are common in some architectural styles, require careful insulation to prevent heat gain from above. Older homes especially suffer from outdated or insufficient insulation and single-pane windows that act like heat superhighways.
What Your Vegas Home Inspection Looks For
When our Vegas home inspectors come to your property, we’re looking for the invisible places where your money is escaping. Our goal is to give you a clear picture of where your home is losing energy so you can take steps to fix it and save money. Today let’s look particularly at energy inefficiencies when it comes to insulation, doors and windows, and your roof.
Insulation
In the desert, you want a thick blanket of insulation around your home to keep the hot air out. We look in the attic, walls (if accessible), and crawl spaces. Is it even there? Sometimes builders skimp, leaving you exposed. So we look for gaps, compression, or areas where it’s missing.
There are different types of insulation as well, such as fiberglass batts, spray foam, blown-in cellulose, or rigid foam boards. We check if it’s the right type for our climate. Spray foam insulation is generally considered one of the best for Vegas homes. Radiant barriers are also very effective on your attic roof to help radiate heat back out of the space.
Insulation has what’s called an R-value. The higher the “R” number, the better it insulates. For example, blow-in cellulose is around R-3.2 to R-3.8 per inch, and top end closed-cell spray foam is around R-6 to R-7 per inch. We look to see if you have enough to meet current recommendations. The US Department of Energy recommends R-49 to R-60 for attics, R-19 for floors, and R-15 to R-20 for exterior walls in the Vegas area. To determine the total R-value for your wall, you need to know the thickness of the insulation within the wall cavity. For example, blow-in cellulose inside a 2×6 exterior wall would be around R-19.25 to R-20.35, which falls within the recommended parameters.
Windows and Doors
Doors can be major culprits for letting hot air in and cool air out. First, we look for cracks or gaps around the frames. We assess if the frames themselves are in good condition and if the rubber or felt weather stripping around the edges is intact. Damaged or missing stripping lets air sneak through. Repairing damaged or missing weather stripping is a fairly straightforward process, as most stripping is held in place with either adhesive, staples, or screws, and is not too expensive to replace.
Next come your windows. First up is to identify if your windows are single or double pane. This is a fundamental difference that significantly impacts your home’s energy efficiency. Single-pane windows offer very little insulation. They readily conduct heat, meaning that during the summer, the outside heat easily transfers through the glass into your home, forcing your AC system to work much harder and longer. This type of window was highly prevalent in older construction. If your Vegas home was built several decades ago and hasn’t had window upgrades, it’s highly likely you have single-pane windows.
Double-pane windows are much more effective at insulating your home. They consist of two layers of glass separated by an air or gas-filled space. This seemingly simple addition makes a world of difference in energy efficiency. The gas trapped between the two panes is an insulator that is able to significantly reduce the transfer of heat from the sun to your space inside.
The next critical piece of the puzzle is the window frame material. The frame itself can actually be a significant pathway for heat transfer. Generally, standard aluminum frames are the least energy-efficient option. They offer minimal insulation and can significantly contribute to thermal bridging – where heat bypasses the insulation in your walls by traveling through the conductive frame. Vinyl frames are a much better option if possible. Vinyl is a non-metallic material with inherently low thermal conductivity. It’s a much better insulator than aluminum and minimizes heat transfer.
Roofing
Your roof takes the brunt of the Vegas sun, and a damaged roof can let heat leak into your attic. Even small cracks or holes in the roofing material (shingles, tiles, or membrane) create direct pathways for this intense heat to penetrate the protective barrier. The superheated air above the roof can seep directly into the attic space. Then, the hot attic can radiate heat down into your living spaces.
Missing shingles or tiles expose the underlayment directly to the sun. The underlayment is a protective layer beneath the visible roofing material. This material offers far less resistance to heat transfer than the intended roofing surface.
Darker roofs absorb more heat than lighter ones. Sunlight contains a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light and infrared radiation, which we feel as heat. When sunlight hits a surface, some of it is reflected, and some is absorbed. Dark colors, like black, dark brown, and dark gray, absorb a wider range of wavelengths, causing the surface temperature to rise. Lighter colors, like white, beige, and light gray, reflect a larger percentage of the incoming solar radiation. Less energy is absorbed, and so the surface temperature remains cooler.
Proper ventilation is also important to help hot air escape. Ventilation systems create airflow, allowing the hot air to escape at the top of the attic while drawing in cooler, drier air from outside. This constant exchange of air helps to keep the attic temperature closer to the outside temperature. We check the vents to make sure they aren’t blocked. Most roofs have a combination of intake vents (low on the roof or in the soffits) and exhaust vents (high on the roof).
Expert Insight at Your Vegas Home Inspection
Get a targeted Vegas home inspection and take a big step towards a more energy-efficient and cost-effective home. By identifying and addressing key energy inefficiencies in your walls and roof, you can enjoy lower monthly bills and a more comfortable living environment. Contact SuperTeam Services today for an expert home inspection in Vegas that focuses on your energy savings!
