Your home needs insulation to keep the warm air inside, where it belongs. At first glance, that might sound like you only need insulation during winter, when it gets freezing. However, insulation has more uses than keeping the house warm; in truth, insulation sees plenty of use all year-round. It’s a good idea to think about checking on your insulation throughout the year to ensure you’re ready for winter (to say nothing of the other seasons). Making arrangements for attic insulation removal before you need it can go a long way toward making your home just a bit more insulated.
If you’re looking to save more energy around the house, it’s hard to go wrong with insulation. Insulation is a powerful system for maintaining consistent temperature indoors and avoiding any heat loss.
How Does Insulation Work?
To make a long story short, insulation helps you control the temperature in your home, allowing you to stay warm or cold as you like. Bulk insulation, like that found in your attic and other spaces, keeps the temperature comfortable and makes the house more energy-efficient. In many cases, insulation works by trapping small bubbles of air inside the insulating material (e.g. fibreglass). When trapped and unable to move, air can be an excellent insulator, preventing air transfer, and making sure the indoor temperature stays consistent.
Some houses also feature foil insulation. In contrast to bulk insulation, foil insulation uses the reflective properties of foil to deflect heat away from entering. As such, this makes roofs and loft spaces great spots for foil insulation; these places let the insulation reflects the heat from sunlight and keep it from contributing as much to heat inside. Many homeowners elect to install both types of insulation (with the shiny foil insulation surrounding the bulk insulation) to maximize the amount of heat saved indoors.
Benefits You Can Enjoy All Year Round
Insulation does more than keep the warmth in; it can also keeps the warmth out. Since insulation impedes heat exchange, this means your insulation cuts both ways. When it’s warm, the insulation in your home has one job: to prevent air from entering when you’re trying to stay cool. Insulating the house throughout the year also comes with other benefits, including:
- Saving energy – Insulation is a smart way to save energy at home. Your insulation helps keep a more consistent interior temperature, letting you less energy to heat or cool the house. It’s an effective way of letting you make less use of your heating and cooling systems. A well-insulated home can use up to 60 percent less than a poorly-insulated one. Think of proper insulation as an investment; once installed, good insulation can go a long way toward lowering your energy costs and helping you save money.
- Increasing home value – A well-insulated home is an energy-efficient one. If you decide to sell your home, ensuring it’s well-insulated all year round can help you get a better price for it. A home with lowered energy costs makes the house more attractive to prospective buyers, increasing the resale value. After all, if those upgrades made life more comfortable for you, they’ll likely do the same for the new owners.
- Keeping you cozy inside – With proper insulation, you can kiss cold floors and drafts goodbye in winter. Come summer, enjoy staying cool throughout the house, even on the upper floors. Insulating the house lets you stay comfortable throughout the year, not only during winter. Now you can make your home cozier all year, the better to make it feel like the perfect home.
- Insulating from outside – One reason homeowners sometimes plant trees on their property is to keep out the noise. As it happens, insulation can also help you in that regard. Additional insulation is generally part of an efficient noise control strategy. Strategic placement of insulation helps exclude noise coming from the outside, allowing you to maintain your privacy and get more respite from your daily toil.
- Improving health indoors – More and more homeowners are becoming more health-conscious. Installing clean air filters and proper insulation can do a lot to help you stay healthy, especially during hay fever season. Proper insulation also includes air sealing, which can prevent allergens and other airborne pollutants from entering the house as easily. That goes some way toward avoiding allergies and disease, helping you stay in good health.
- Reducing condensation – Condensation can be caused by temperature differences between the external and internal walls and windows of your house. Insulating your outer walls is a great way of preventing excess condensation and make the walls more waterproof. Air temperature and humidity indoors can also contribute to mould growth. Insulating the walls can help prevent mould from developing indoors and protect your health and home.
Maximizing Your Insulation When It’s Warm
As a homeowner, you can do a thing or two to maximize your insulation and keep it cooler indoors whenever it’s warm outside. Try these tips to help keep the warm air out and the cool air in on the hotter days.
- Close your curtains – Using the sun can be an excellent way to warm the house during winter. During the rest of the year, it can contribute to making your home warmer, however. Avoid trapping more heat inside the house by drawing the blinds on your windows to minimize solar gain. Consider using reflective materials (e.g. reflective glass) for more ways to keep the sun’s rays out of the house.
- Keep the air circulating – Keeping air circulating is one way of letting the excess heat out if done correctly. Try opening the windows at night (when it’s cooler) to let the excess heat out precisely when it’s cooler. Once the sun comes up, close the windows to avoid losing the cool air. Your home’s insulation can keep the cool air inside and make it take longer for the house to heat up. Use this method to keep the house cool well into the middle of the day, when the day is at its hottest.
- Avoid electrical devices – Using fans and air-conditioners are other ways to beat the heat and circulate air. However, there is a downside to using them; electric devices can add to the ambient temperature inside, which the insulation can help retain. To avoid overheating the house, turn off any non-essential devices to prevent adding to the heat build-up.
There’s plenty of reason to make sure your insulation is effective all through the year. Give Dr. Duct a call when you need your insulation inspected and replaced. We understand how important it is that you have proper protection when the seasons and temperature change. Drop us a line at (613) 845-0707 or visit our contact page for a free estimate.