How to Keep Your House Cool in The Summer

Back to Blog

As summer has finally started heating up here in Midcoast Maine, many homeowners are struggling to keep cool as the temperatures rise. Many older homes in the area aren’t equipped with permanent cooling systems, making them stuffy and uncomfortable during the warmer months. But did you know that there are certain home performance upgrades that can help keep your home cool? 

At Evergreen Home Performance, we use a building science approach to home upgrades that view each part of your home as a small piece to a larger working system. With our comprehensive services and expertise in energy efficiency, we can help you keep your home comfortable during the summer. 

Insulation & Air Sealing Upgrades

It’s a common misconception that insulation only works in the winter. In fact, insulation keeps the heat out of your home in the summer in the same exact way it keeps the cold out in the winter—by creating a barrier that resists heat flow through your home. Gaps and cracks in your building envelope also make it susceptible to excess heat and humidity, allowing conditioned air to escape your home and creating negative pressure known as the stack effect. 

With insulation upgrades and air sealing from Evergreen Home Performance, your home will stay cooler longer throughout the summer and get other year-round benefits, like:

Why Insulation & Air Sealing Work Best When Combined

While insulation controls the heat flow in and out of your living spaces, air sealing eliminates energy waste from your home. The performance of insulation is optimized when combined with air sealing—and it can even extend the lifespan of your cellulose insulation!

We’ll Give You a Road Map to a More Comfortable Home

With a free consultation from our team of efficiency experts, we can evaluate your home’s performance and your energy needs to find areas where we can improve efficiency. After our inspection, we’ll provide you with a detailed list of recommendations—along with a few tips—to help you stay comfortable and optimize your whole-home performance.

At Evergreen Home Performance, we’ve helped thousands of Midcoast Maine families with their home comfort and efficiency issues since 2006. Our team of experts can help you stay cool and comfortable this summer, and for many more to come! Ready to get started? Call our team of efficiency experts today!

Maximize Your Savings With Incentives!

Evergreen Home Performance is committed to helping Maine homeowners find the right way to fit energy efficiency projects into their budgets and Efficiency Maine’ rebate program and the federal IRA Tax Credit go a long way to make things affordable.

Rebates

Insulation rebates through Efficiency Maine are an excellent opportunity for Maine homeowners. These rebates go toward the cost of your home improvement projects so you pay less for the same services. There are currently three rebate levels that Evergreen can help you qualify for, helping you earn up to a total of up to:

  • $4,000 for any income

  • $6,000 for moderate income

  • $8,000 for low income

Inflation Reduction Act Tax Credit

Homeowners can save up to 30% on qualifying home improvements for up to a $1,200 combined annual limit.

Ready to get started? Schedule your free consultation to learn more. Call 207-594-2244 or contact us online.

Can’t beat the heat this summer?

Upgrade your home’s performance with our team! 207-594-2244

Our house still the most efficient home we’ve ever lived in. And we have you folks to thank for that! A special howdy to Brian Robinson please!

Bruce O’Donal and Eva Butler

We had Evergreen energy do blow-in cellulose. I was very happy with the result. They tested with blower-door before and after. House is now MUCH warmer. Also, in the time since when I've had to open walls for various access, I've been impressed with how they got the insulation packed in everywhere. I'd use them again.

Noah

Peaks Island

Evergreen was so helpful in securing us Efficiency Maine funding for a big attic insulation project early this winter. They did all of the paperwork, and totally guided us through a vermiculite removal process that included a payment from a trust for the procedure. I could instantly feel the second floor being so much warmer than before. The boiler does not kick on nearly as frequently since they completed the job. It was worth every penny! Brian Robinson was so thorough throughout the whole process including a full walk through after the job had been completed.

Todd W.

Camden

We initially contacted Evergreen through Efficiency Maine for an energy audit, which was conducted promptly and professionally by Justin McEdward, one of their Energy Advisors who is BPI-certified. After a thorough inspection of our newly purchased home, Justin explained in great detail what we needed and did not need. It was agreed that Evergreen would remove all of the existing attic insulation, which was not adequate, and replace it with blown in cellulose, to a rating of R-60.

Thomas W.

Scarborough

"Working with Evergreen from start to finish was a great experience." See what our customers have to say about their experience with Evergreen Home Performance. 

Jeff L.

Our basement was the eyesore of the house. I wanted to make improvements, but first needed to make structural, insulating and moisture mitigation improvements. Evergreen was professional and competent in taking on a complex project of not only encapsulation and insulation of basement and crawlspace, but completed needed improvements to the structural integrity of the wood floor platform above a crawlspace and brought in a concrete contractor to pour where there was once a rotting, tiered wood platform - replacing that area with a more functional and tight tiered concrete area.

Duane B.

East Boothbay

Evergreen came back this year to finish insulating our house. We have been remodeling and renovating an 1850s cape for several years. Their employees are very professional and pleasant to deal with. Over several years Brian Robinson has been able to schedule us in for several small areas that needed addressing and finally turning a room we used to close off in the winter into a comfortable usable space. We primarily heat with wood and since Evergreens great work our furnace has only come on ONCE this winter. Fantastic. Really satisfied customer in Thomaston.

Chris F.

Thomaston

The crew members from Evergreen Home Performance each made sure to greet us every day, while maintaining their distance in this time of the pandemic. Their work took a total of nine days, spread over three weeks. Even though they were working in multiple rooms of our house, as well as the basement and attic, they were unobtrusive and always cleaned up after themselves every day. The on-sight manager kept us informed of their daily schedule so we'd know which parts of the house they'd be working on.

Bob & Sue

Whitefield

We had a fantastic experience working with Evergreen to insulate our roof this winter. Everyone was extremely friendly throughout the process - the crew at our home worked hard, were approachable with questions, and the team leader even showed me around the project to point out specific areas they were working to improve.

Joel Wentz

Very easy process, start to finish.  Friendly, professional, and really know their stuff.  They made some improvements to our condo and we were very happy with how it played out.  Would definitely recommend them.

Clayton Eames

Evergreen did an amazing job insulating our historic home. Their professional staff worked hard to ensure the tough areas in the attic were covered, and clearly communicated their progress. We are seeing the results with our discounted heating bills. Thank you, Evergreen!

Melissa Knoll

Portland

Evergreen has insulated two homes that we've owned now and both times we experienced exceptional service and craftsmanship. Our rep, Justin, went above and beyond answering questions and the installation team was attentive to every detail, including pulling out old poorly installed insulation and redoing a bathroom fan that wasn't up to current code. They also left the place spotless every day! Our home is already so much warmer this fall and we are looking forward to using less oil this winter.

Eva G.

Falmouth

Evergreen completed the work at my home thoroughly and professionally. An inspector from Efficiency Maine came to inspect afterwards and described it as "state of the art" and "outstanding". The crew was very pleasant and considerate during the project. Their cleanup each day was perfect. Communications with the office were easy and reliable. I am very satisfied.

Catherine H.

South Portland

The Evergreen team was amazing from initial assessment and planning to the crew that came to complete the work. Our basement encapsulation is the best money we've spent on our house by far. The work was thorough and high quality. And what a wonderful group of people to work with. I highly recommend Evergreen!

Martha Bracy

I would recommend Evergreen wholeheartedly because of their professionalism, their follow through, and thoughtful project planning.

Jennifer A

Portland Buy Local
Efficiency Maine
EPA Lead-Safe Certified
Building Performance Association
BPI Certified