Do Cathedral Ceilings Make Your Power Bill Higher?

Space

• While a cathedral ceiling provides a spacious feel to your rooms, it also creates more air space that needs to be heated or cooled. Therefore, you may need to operate your heating or air conditioning for a longer period of time to bring your home to your desired temperature. If you run your furnace or air conditioner longer, your bills will increase. Changing your thermostat while you aren't home, during the night or while you are home, if you can tolerate it, can help reduce your bills.

Fans

• Circulating the air through your home can help to reduce your bills despite having cathedral ceilings. In the summer months, warm air rises to the top of your ceilings. You may not need to operate the fans in the summer as long as your thermostat is located closer to the ground where the cool air naturally collects. However, in the winter months when you need to run your furnace, run your fans in reverse to draw the cold air up and circulate the warm air outward and down to help heat the room.

Insulation

• Good insulation is the key to keeping your power bills lower, especially when you have cathedral ceilings. Without good insulation, your heat especially will leave your home through your cathedral ceilings. However, because cathedral ceilings often don't have an attic over them, it can be difficult to install the insulation yourself. If you are building a home with this type of ceiling, it is important to ensure your builder is using high-density foam insulation for the best results.

Lighting

• The lighting you use contributes to your power bill. While you may think that a room with cathedral ceilings requires more lighting, this is not necessarily true. The ceiling of your home may look better lit, but lighting up the entire ceiling isn't a necessity. Instead, install track lighting along the ceiling to help light the room below. Track lighting can also illuminate the areas of the ceiling below it to highlight the extra space. Using compact fluorescent bulbs can also help to reduce your power bill.