How insulation makes your home energy efficient.
Insulation is one of the most important yet overlooked components in any home. Most of the time, homeowners focus on visual aspects like furniture, layout, design, and other components.
Having adequate insulation is key to having an energy-efficient home. This allows you to cut your energy costs. Nowadays, energy efficiency is one of the top considerations people look for when buying houses. Keeping your place well-insulated can result in significant returns once you sell your home later.
To help you understand how insulation works, here are the five ways insulation saves energy consumption at home.
Increase Heat Resistance
Insulation works by regulating your indoor temperature. During the summer, heat tries to move from outdoors to indoors, while heat moves from indoors to outdoors or other unheated areas.
Insulation slows heat flow and increases thermal resistance—measured through R-values—so it does not move in and out of your home. This means reducing heat surplus in hot weather and reducing heat loss in cold weather. In effect, you waste less heat and remain comfortable all year round since your home stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Increase Efficiency of HVAC Systems
In line with the previous point, adding insulation to your home also helps make your heating and cooling system more efficient since they need not use too much energy to maintain your home’s temperature. This translates to a more energy-efficient home and lowers heating and cooling costs.
Without insulating your home, your HVAC systems would need to work twice as hard to regulate your home’s temperature since heat is entering or escaping. When this happens, you consume more energy than needed and risk damaging your HVAC systems and shortening their lifespan.
Prevent Air Leaks
Another way insulation helps you achieve an energy-efficient home is by sealing tight spaces to prevent air leaks. Air sealing often goes together with attic insulation installation so you can cover crevices and make sure there are no overlooked gaps where air can go in and out of your home.
To achieve energy efficiency, you need to create a tight seal in your home.
If there are spaces permitting air leaks to come through, moisture can accumulate and turn your home into a breeding ground for mold, mildew, and other bacteria. These leaks are a major source of energy loss, so sealing gaps is vital to maintaining energy efficiency.
For attic insulation projects, ENERGY STAR recommends you air seal your attic before insulating it. Common signs that state you may need air sealing include drafty rooms, inconsistent temperatures between rooms, ice dams in your roof, and dry air during the winter.
Save Energy in Attics
The attic may seem like a harmless space in your home, but in truth, it is one of the largest contributors to energy waste. If you want an energy-efficient home, attic insulation is a must since up to 85% of heat can be lost in the attic. Thus, failing to insulate this area can result in high energy bills.
The most common types of insulation used in attics include batt and loose-fill or blown-in insulation. Batts work best for your framing since they fit between joists and studs, if your attic has the standard joist spacing.
Blown-in insulation works well for attics with irregular layouts and obstructions, since it can fill in gaps, even in the smallest spaces.
Covers All Areas at Home
Finally, insulation materials come in such a wide range that you can be sure you can insulate every part of your home. Having this variety allows you to maximize your heat savings and energy efficiency so that you can keep your energy bills at their lowest.
Aside from the attic, the other main areas you need to insulate would be your ceiling, floors, and walls. Insulating the basement can help keep your home warmer, while insulating the ceilings can prevent heat loss and condensation.
If you are unsure about what areas in your home are still not insulated or need to add insulation, it would be best to contact professionals. Though some home improvement projects on insulation can be done on your own, they still need knowledge and technical skill about your home’s structure and the type of insulation to use for different cases.
Invest in Quality Insulation Today for an Energy-Efficient Home
An energy-efficient home comes with several advantages, including more comfort, reduced costs, and increased property value. Joe Blows Insulation offers a range of insulation services to help you achieve all the benefits of a well-insulated home. We can do them all, whether it be attic insulation installation, air sealing, or insulation removal.
Contact us today at (727) 656-9785 to schedule an inspection with our team. Based on our assessment, we will find the best solutions to improve the energy efficiency in your home.