Building an interconnected system

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn about the relationship between your roof, your HVAC system and the interior temperature of your home. 

Imagine walking into a home that feels just right — cool in the summer, warm in the winter and always comfortable. This perfect balance is often the result of a well-coordinated relationship between your roofing and HVAC systems. But how do these two components work together to create such harmony? To explore this, John Kenney from Cotney Consulting Group stopped by to talk to Lauren White in a recent episode of the AskARoofer Podcast. 

John, who has over 45 years of experience as a contractor, started with a basic explanation of how HVAC systems work, sharing, “HVAC is air conditioning. That's the whole purpose of the system. And people think that means cooling. It's actually not. The whole purpose of an HVAC system is to condition your air by removing humidity through ventilation and other methods.” The result of the removal of humidity is felt as a cooler temperature, hence the misconception the air conditioning is equivalent to air cooling. 

Removing moisture is not just about making a more comfortable space. It is also crucial to keeping a building structurally sound and avoiding costly repairs. John explained, “Without proper ventilation you're going to have a buildup of heat which can do damage in many ways. It puts strain on your air conditioning unit and very possibly you're going to end up with a major condensation problem showing up inside your house, which can damage the internal structure of a building.”  

So how do you avoid these types of moisture issues? Make sure that your home has roofing and HVAC systems that work together. John elaborated, “Your HVAC and your roof affect each other more than people realize... You can have an HVAC problem that can look like a roof leak, and you can have a roof leak that looks like an HVAC problem, especially when it comes to condensation and so on. That’s why it’s really important to have both professionals on-site to prevent misdiagnoses and ensure that both systems work together seamlessly.”  

At the end of the day, understanding that roofing and HVAC are interconnected systems is the first step to building a more energy efficient, healthy and comfortable home. 

Listen to the whole episode to learn more about how your HVAC system interacts with your roof.