Are you looking for ways to save energy and money? One of the most beneficial things you can do is insulate your home. Insulation makes your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, potentially saving you money on energy costs. In addition, it is a great way to make your home more comfortable year-round! You should know a few things about home insulation if you reside in Texas. Continue reading for further information.
How Can Insulation Help Save Energy?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, air sealing and insulating a home reduces heating and cooling costs by an average of 15%, which equates to about 11% of total energy costs. Because air pockets reduce heat movement, all types of insulation reduce heat transfer into and out of your home. It keeps the hot air outside from coming into your home during the summer. This makes it easier for your air conditioner to cool your home with less work and energy. In the winter, it keeps the warm air inside your home, so your furnace doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the space warm.
What Are Some Energy and Money-Saving Insulation Options for Your Home?
Your home most likely has some insulation, but not enough to make a significant difference. Many areas of your home can benefit from additional insulation. Focus on key areas to insulate when building a new home or remodeling an older one. Here are some insulation ideas to help you save money on your energy bills.
Insulate the Attic
The large attic space allows heat to escape during the winter and cold air to escape during the summer. Fill the gaps between the attic floor joists with insulation to adequately insulate your attic. Adding insulation between the roof’s beams and rafters also helps in overall insulation. Remember to insulate access doors to the attic.
Insulate the Exterior Walls
If you don’t have insulation on your exterior walls, they are also a big source of heat transfer. Adding insulation to the walls is much easier if you are building new or have the walls torn out for renovation. Adding wall insulation to an existing home takes more work. Blown-in insulation is a viable option for existing homes.
Insulate Your Foundation and Basement
Insulation can also help the lower level of your home. In the winter, you may notice that your basement is cooler than the upper floors. Adding insulation can help create more consistency if you have finished basement spaces. Even if the basement is unfinished, insulating it can help keep adjacent spaces more comfortable.
Insulate Ductwork
Your HVAC system may experience energy loss when ductwork passes through unconditioned spaces. The heated and cooled air can escape and waste energy in unconditioned areas. You can reduce this loss by installing insulation around your ductwork and sealing your ductwork.
Insulate Plumbing
Insulating your hot water pipes can help you save energy in a similar way. The insulation reduces heat loss in the water as it travels through the pipes, resulting in hotter water at your faucet. Consider insulating a conventional water heater with a tank to prevent standby heat loss. Water heater blankets are an easy option for keeping stored water warm.
Insulate Floors Over Certain Areas
A room situated above a garage, crawlspace, or other uninsulated and unheated space may experience significant temperature fluctuations. When your garage is cold in the winter, the floor and room above it typically feel colder, prompting you to crank up the heat. Hot summer days may cause that room to feel hotter than others, causing you to run fans or lower the temperature on your air conditioner, which consumes more energy.
Adding insulation between those spaces and the floor of the room above them can reduce heat transfer and make the space more comfortable. The room will feel more like the rest of your house and will not require any additional heating or cooling.
What Are the Different Types of Insulation Materials?
There are numerous ways to insulate your home and numerous home insulation materials (with many different R-values and thermal resistances). Let’s take a look at some of the most common types of home insulation materials.
Batt Insulation
Consider batt insulation to be a kind of house blanket. This insulating material is available in different varieties, including mineral wool (also known as rock wool), plastic or natural fibers, and fiberglass batts — all of which are excellent thermal insulators.
Batts are ideal for homeowners who enjoy DIY home renovation projects because they are easy to install — simply roll them out. They’re designed to fit between wall joists, requiring less trimming and making installation easier. Batts are less expensive than many other insulation materials and can be installed to prevent air leaks in unfinished walls, under floors, or in ceilings.
Loose-Fill Insulation
If batt insulation served as a blanket for your home, loose-fill insulation could serve as pillows. Loose-fill insulation is what it sounds like: a mass of insulation material — mineral wool, cellulose insulation, or fiberglass insulation — that is spread or sometimes blown into the area that needs to be insulated.
Loose-fill insulation is ideal for insulating older homes because it is much easier to spread inside a finished wall than batt insulation. Many attics or unfinished rooms, as well as odd-shaped or difficult-to-access areas in your home, are ideal for loose-fill insulation.
Foam Board Insulation
Consider using foam board insulation if you want more structure in your thermal insulation installation. These rigid boards (typically made of polystyrene) can be installed in unfinished walls, ceilings, floors, and unvented roofs.
If these are installed on the exterior side of a wall, they must be covered with some weatherproof layer. A flame retardant covering is required if a polystyrene insulation board is installed on the interior of a wall.
Spray Foam Insulation
Spray foam insulation is another excellent option for insulating an already-built home. There are various installation methods here, but the foam is frequently sprayed as a liquid inside finished wall cavities, where it then expands into a solid foam that can form a protective wall insulation air barrier.
While polyurethane is the most common type of spray foam insulation, there are two types of polyurethane spray foam insulation to look for: open-cell foam and closed-cell foam.
Although open-cell foam is less expensive, it has a lower R-value and cannot be used in basements or low-lying areas where it may become wet. Closed-cell foam, on the other hand, is denser, more expensive, and has a higher R-value.
Overall, spray foam insulation is more expensive, but it has higher R-values than most batts. The way your house is built and the weather in your area will help you decide which building material to use.
Insulation Specialists in Cypress, TX
Contact Cypress Insulation Company in Cypress, Texas, when you’re ready to add insulation to your home. We can provide you with more information about our products, materials for insulation, and services.
Call (832) 224-3854 or contact us online right now to get started on your Cypress, TX, insulation installation!
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