When you want to make your home more energy efficient without a large investment, consider improving your home’s insulation. Insulation slows the movement of heat from indoors out. It can also cut heating and cooling costs throughout the year.
Attic
Having 16 to 20 inches of fiberglass batt or blown-in insulation reduces heat loss or gain through your home’s ceilings. If budget is an issue, improving attic insulation goes a long way toward lowering energy bills. Novice DIYers often install additional attic insulation.
Ductwork
Unless the ductwork in your home runs through heated and cooled areas, you need to insulate it to stop thermal loss. HVAC contractors can add insulation to the exposed ductwork so it can deliver air that hasn’t lost thermal energy to the basement or the attic.
Walls
Adding home insulation to walls can make a difference in your comfort, especially on those that face west or north. Adding insulation to walls is the most challenging of all the places in the home, since it’s not cost-effective or easy to remove either the siding or the drywall.
Professionals add wall insulation by blowing in loose cellulose, fiberglass or expanding foam. They drill unobtrusive holes in the walls and fill each cavity, resulting in better thermal protection. One of the best products to use for walls is expanding foam because it stops thermal bridging — a phenomenon where vacant air spaces conduct heat through structural components.
Basement or Crawl Space
Placing insulation in the basement’s ceiling or crawl space will keep your home’s first floor more comfortable throughout the year. Batt or rigid foam sheets work well between the floor joists. Insulating the foundation and basement walls also improves comfort, as long as you address humidity and moisture issues, including drainage.
If you’d like more information about the benefits of home insulation, contact Air Experts. We’ve been providing top-notch HVAC services for homeowners in the Raleigh-Durham area since 1986.
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