Believe it or not, the temperature in your house is reflective of the temperature in your attic. Now there’s a product on the market that will cool your attic in the summer, and heat it in the winter, all in an effort to lower your electric bills.

“You name it we’ve done it and we are still not comfortable in our home and we have not lowered our energy bills,” said Nancy Norris of Avondale.

She and her husband, Greg, moved from the Northwest. Not used to our heat, the Norris family took some bad advice and ended up spending tens of thousands of dollars to add insulation to their attic, thinking it would keep the heat out in the summer and leaving them feeling warmer in the winter.

“Our house is actually using more energy because of adding attic insulation,” Greg said.

The problem is that added insulation acted more like a jacket on their house than a protective layer that would keep them cooler in the summer.

“We measured our insulation in the attic in the morning just above the ceiling in the living room at just above 114 degrees and that’s the reason our house is so warm because the heat keeps pouring in from the attic because the insulation which acts like a sponge,” added Greg.

During the day, your attic has the potential to heat up and remain hot through the night. This heat up is known as radiant heating. However, a product offered by Horizon Energy Systems, known as TCM, is supposed to reflect the sun’s heat, keeping your house at a normal room temperature.

The aluminum-like material was inspired by NASA’s thermal barrier that’s used to keep astronauts warm in space. This material, though, is able to work in the reverse fashion. During the extreme heat of Arizona’s summers, your attic can exceed temperatures of 145 degrees, so the product will instead reflect the heat off, cooling your house, while in the winter, allowing it to remain warmer.

“Once it’s installed the panels will keep the heat rejected out in the summer time bouncing off the product and as the heat comes up in the wintertime it keeps the heat in during the winter time,” said Brad Lindsay with Horizon Energy Systems. “The layers are separated by a mesh system that we designed and keep the surfaces from touching each other there by creating a virtual thermos bottle in your attic and repel. Once it’s installed these panels will keep the heat rejected in the summer time bouncing off the product and as the heat comes up in the wintertime it keeps the heat in during the winter time.”

“The benefits are more comfort and lower run time on the ac with equates to lower energy bills,” added Lindsay.

The cost of TCM is a $1.40 per square foot, but an additional fan will be needed in your attic to blow the hot air out.