A Fire Station in Sparta That Just Wouldn’t Cool Down

The call came from the Cassville Volunteer Fire Department in Sparta, Tennessee. They were dealing with something we hear pretty often this time of year. The bays were hot. The kitchen was hot. The air conditioning seemed to be running constantly, but the building never really felt comfortable.

At first, I figured we might find an airflow issue somewhere.

I was wrong.

The attic told the story

Once we got up into the attic, things started making more sense.

There just wasn’t enough insulation up there.

Not terrible. But definitely not enough for what that building was dealing with during the hotter months.

You could feel the heat sitting above the ceiling. The attic had that dry, dusty smell that every insulation contractor knows, and it was noticeably warmer the second we opened the access.

That was it.

We weren’t looking at anything complicated

Sometimes people assume there’s some major issue hiding somewhere.

In this case, not really.

The building was simply under-insulated. The HVAC system was working hard, but it was fighting an uphill battle. Kind of like trying to keep a cooler cold after somebody leaves the lid cracked open all afternoon.

The firefighters told us, “We’re running the AC all day and it’s still uncomfortable in parts of the building.”

That matched exactly what we were seeing.

And honestly, we see this a lot

Not just in Sparta.

We’ve seen similar situations in Cookeville, Crossville, and plenty of other communities throughout the Upper Cumberland. Buildings get added onto over the years. Equipment changes. Usage changes.

Sometimes the insulation never catches up.

Different building. Same story.

Different address. Same problem.

A quick side note

One thing I always notice at volunteer fire departments is how much activity happens behind the scenes.
People see the trucks leaving when there’s an emergency, but they don’t always think about the crews cooking meals, training, handling paperwork, and spending long hours inside the station.

Anyway, back to the attic.

We added the insulation they were missing

We installed additional blown-in cellulose insulation and brought the attic up to approximately R-38.
The job itself moved along pretty smoothly. Nothing dramatic. No surprises hiding in the attic. We finished up, cleaned everything up, and took one last look before heading out.

Short day.

But an important one.

The difference they’re looking for

And the thing about jobs like this is you don’t always see the result immediately.

Sometimes it’s a few days later.

Sometimes it’s the next electric bill.

Sometimes it’s somebody walking into the kitchen and realizing it doesn’t feel like a different building than the rest of the station anymore.

That part mattered.

The goal wasn’t to reinvent the building. It was simply to make it more comfortable and help it operate more efficiently, and that’s exactly what this project was about. We were proud to help the Cassville Volunteer Fire Department in Sparta, TN, and if your home or commercial building never seems to cool the way it should, call us or visit our website for a FREE evaluation.