Wednesday, 7 January 2015

The Benefits of Attic Insulation


How to use Attic Insulation in Building

The Benefits of Attic Insulation

Many homeowners are not aware of the benefits that proper attic insulation can have for their homes. Insulating this space can help to keep your home at a constant temperature, as well as protecting the items that you put in storage and lowering your utility bills. If you are concerned about any of these issues, then you should look into insulating this space in your home as soon as possible.
Keep Your Home at a Constant Temperature
One immediate benefit that you will see after installing attic insulation is that your home maintains a constant temperature. Your upper floors will be much cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. In fact, the temperature of your upper floor will be much the same as your ground floor temperature. This is because you will no longer be losing temperature through the roof of your house. In the winter, the warm air in your house rises, and this warm air can be lost if the uppermost floor of your home is un-insulated. In the summer, on the other hand, the intense heat from the sun can cause your upper floors to be too warm. Insulating can help to curb this problem, and create a more pleasant and even temperature throughout the house.
Keep Your Stored Items Safe from Harsh Temperatures
Another benefit of attic insulation is that it will keep those items that you store safe from the extreme temperatures of summer and winter. It is not uncommon for items that get stored in attics to be damaged over the years due to exposure to extreme temperatures. If you live in a southern city, it is not uncommon for attics to reach temperatures of one hundred and twenty degrees or more. This can cause your stored items to sustain damage and force you to get rid of them. By insulating this space in your home, you can avoid damage of this kind.
Lower Your Utility Bills

Finally, attic insulation can help to save you money on your utility bills. Since an un-insulated space can cause the temperature in your home to fluctuate, your heating and cooling systems tend to have to work harder in order to accommodate the change in temperature. This means that your monthly bills are likely to be much higher than they need to be in the winter and summer months. By insulating, you can save yourself money during these times, and this is something that any homeowner would welcome.

Monday, 5 January 2015

Tips for Choosing Right Roof Insulation Material


Tips for Choosing Right Roof Insulation Material

Saturday, 20 December 2014

Things to Consider When Installing Attic Insulation

Having the right level of attic insulation in your house is definitely one of the most important considerations in keeping your energy costs low. Attic insulation protects from the cold in the winter, and also keeps the cool in during the hot summer months. What considerations factor in towards making your attic a well insulated place?
Examine first the type of attic insulation you have. Many older houses have what is referred to as batt insulation. That's the kind that comes in large rolls, and is typically colored pink or yellow. The insulation is spread out in the attic, generally between the wooden beams. The other kind of insulation is called blow-in insulation. Blow-in insulation is typically installed by professional contractors, as they have the correct equipment to do the work. Small bits of insulation are mechanically wind blown into the attic, creating the blanket across the attic floor. You will generally find this kind of insulation in new houses.
There are of course good and bad with either batt insulation or blow-in insulation. Batt insulation, when installed properly provides an equal R-Factor through the attic. The R-factor is the measurement of the overall performance of the insulation, and is also called the thermal performance. It measures the resistance of the flow of heat. Batt attic insulation that is properly installed will give you a uniform R-Factor through the entire attic.
Alternatively, blow-in insulation is propelled into the attic with a machine. While it is very difficult to blow it in uniformly through the whole attic, the result is a variable R-factor in that space. As long as the installation is done thoroughly, and the necessary minimum number of inches sits on the flooring of the attic, the insulation will do the trick. This makes the issue of a non-uniform R-factor a non-factor overall.
The money involved with batt and blow-in insulation is of course another factor to consider. Usually batt insulation costs less to buy, but your time is something to consider as well. Lots of time is needed to correctly add insulation, or replace the existing insulation.

When adding attic insulation, you of course have to have the right equipment, including proper clothes, lots of time, and plenty of patience. Alternatively, you can always contract the job out for a little more money, and have a blow-in insulation job completed in just a few hours without as much trouble.

Friday, 5 December 2014

Home Insulation and What You Need to Know

Home insulation is important for houses in this age of high energy cost. Home insulation helps to reduce the cost of utility bill in terms of low energy usage. Moreover, it also boosts the values and livability of houses. Therefore, home insulation is especially a must for houses that are more than 10 to 15 years old which tend to be not insulated when they were built 10 to 20 years ago. Even if they were insulated at that time of construction, the insulation technology or the material might not be as good as today's technology. Therefore, it's better for you to replace or remodel the insulation if they were installed a decade ago.
The first step to installing home insulation is to identify areas of the house that need to be insulated. The general guideline here is to look at places where there is contact or leak between the interior of your house and the outside world. A good example of this scenario will be the window. During the winter, when you open the window, you can feel the cold air from outside tends to rush into the house. It's the same in the summer where the heat will enter the house once the window is open. When this situation happens, heat loss or heat gain is occurring.
One thing to remember is that heat exchange is not restricted to just the window and the door. It also happens at places that are intact such as the wall, ceiling and the roof. Even though the wall, ceiling and the roof is a poor conductor, heat loss and heat gain will still occur. If there is a crack in the wall or a hole in the ceiling, heat loss or gain will be accelerated at a faster rate. Therefore, we need insulation to reduce or better eliminate completely the rate of heat loss and gain. With that being said, areas such as the walls, ceiling, basement, attic and the roofs are the critical areas that require to be insulated.


Once you have determined the insulation areas, next step is to choose the insulation material and types of insulation. Some common insulation materials that are affordable to most households are fiberglass, wool, paper, wood and cotton. The more expensive material is the popular polyurethane that is used in spray foam insulation. The polyurethane can cost up to several times more than the conventional materials such as fiberglass, wool and cotton. New and non-conventional insulation materials are being developed constantly in the market.
Insulation Material Manufacturer

Home Insulation Guide - Calculate How Much Insulation You Need

Home insulation process is applicable for converting any areas of your home resistant to heat loss. Whether it is attic, floors, windows and doors or floors of the house is catalyst to heat loss, seal the draughts with appropriate insulation methods. Even when you are using air conditioning appliances, costly and artificially conditioned air will be lost due to lack of insulation in your house. Insulation when added in right proportion retards natural tendency heat to move from warmer place to cooler region leaving and also entry of cold air into the house. Similarly, properly insulated house keeps the scorching heat off the house. The amount of insulation needed by your property differs from one property to another and also depends on the climate. Do you know how much home insulation your house needs?
Measurement of Home Insulation
One needs to decide what type of insulation and in what proportion it is needed. The best possible way to know that is by calling utility professionals who provides information through "energy audit". They take complete assessment on availability of draughts in the house and the area should be sealed with insulation treatment. Efficacy of any type of insulation is measured through R-value or resistance value of the material used in insulation. Home insulation materials vary in their R-value or heat resistance provided by every inch of thickness.

The R-value tends to differ in different climate and the pattern in which the building is constructed. In the mild climate, the right proportion for wall insulation and floor insulation should be R-11 while for attic insulation it should be R-19. Likewise, in moderate climate regions, R-19 is the right amount of insulation for floors and walls and R-30 is appropriate for roof. Buildings in the colder climate regions require wall insulation and floor insulation of R-19, about R-38 to 49 for ceilings area.

To calculate the required amount of home insulation on the existing layer of insulation, first of all you need to switch off the electricity of the house. You should also unscrew electrical outlet cover and place a hanger in the open space. Use hanger to measure depth available to lay the insulation to that space. At the same time, see what kind of insulation is added to the area by removing some insulation using the hanger. You can also call for an insulation survey company or professional to inspect and give you detailed assessment of the insulation you have and require.