Cut Your Utility Bills with Attic Insulation Etobicoke
Once you’ve decided that the less electricity my house uses, the better, how do you go about making changes to save money? Also, which changes will get me the most value for my money?
Increasing the home’s insulation and airtightness as a whole is the single most effective energy-saving retrofit. Better attic insulation in Etobicoke makes a lot of sense because a home’s heating and cooling costs can make up as much as 75% of the total cost of utilities. The level of insulation found in today’s more recent homes is not present in homes built ten years ago. Also that a few sorts of protection can pack over the long haul losing the significant air pockets that give it’s protecting quality. If you don’t want to tear out all of the drywall in your house, it can be difficult to increase the attic insulation Etobicoke in the walls. However, increasing the insulation in your attic or crawlspace is definitely an option.
Adding inches to your existing insulation is the cheapest way to increase it. A few inches of blown-in insulation or an attic blanket can significantly improve overall energy efficiency in a typical attic. Over time, crawl space insulation can even fall out, be damaged by moisture or water, or even not exist at all in some places. You or an attic insulation Etobicoke contractor could find a lot of issues that need to be fixed by taking a quick trip under the house.
Spray foam is a more recent and superior type of insulation for attics and crawl spaces. I say it’s better because the R-value of standard fiberglass insulation per inch is 3.2. The R-value of blown cellulose is 3.5 per inch. The installed polyurethane insulation has a R-value of 7.0 per inch. A little can make a big difference. The fact that there are no air gaps at all when this kind of insulation is applied to your house makes it even better. All holes and cracks around pipes are sealed completely. It is unrivaled by any attic insulation Etobicoke of the batting variety.
Spray insulation works great in your crawl space. Because the insulation is completely waterproof, the crawl space is excellent. This insulation will not be damaged by any moisture beneath your house. In point of fact, the removal of your old batt insulation and the installation of spray foam will kill all types of mold and mildew due to the high heat of the liquid foam and provide superior attic insulation Etobicoke if you already have a moisture problem that is largely attributable to the fact that your old batt insulation has been wicking up the existing moisture under your house.
Additionally, the attic is even better than the crawl space. Simply apply a nice, thick coating of spray insulation directly to the underside of your roof’s plywood while keeping the existing insulation intact. This kind of protection would close all current rooftop vents. Because the insulation keeps the temperature of your attic space within 10 degrees of the temperature of your conditioned space, this is preferable to the traditional method of a vented attic. The fact that the heating and cooling ductwork is now in a location where summertime temperatures average around 85 degrees instead of 135 degrees in a vented attic is the greatest benefit.
Is your house properly insulated?
When you step out of a warm bed and onto an icy floor, the importance of attic insulation Etobicoke becomes apparent. If there isn’t a layer of carpet to provide some insulation, a floor made of wooden or tile can feel more like an ice block.
In addition to being used on a bed, blankets are also used as insulation. One of the many kinds of insulation that are utilized in the construction of homes and businesses is blanket insulation. Today’s homeowner is paying closer attention to the quantity and quality of the materials used to insulate their home because heating and cooling consume between 50 and 70 percent of the energy.
A home can usually benefit from additional attic insulation Etobicoke unless it was built as an Energy Star home, which is a specially constructed home that is at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code. The majority of older homes lack insulation, but adding attic insulation Etobicoke to a newer home could pay for itself in energy savings within a few years.
So, how can you figure out if you should add insulation? First things first, determine how much insulation is already present in the house. A professional energy auditor’s energy audit is one way to arrive at this conclusion. Before installing insulation, a home’s air sealing needs to be improved, and an energy assessment will assist in locating problematic areas. A routine part of the energy audit also includes checking the insulation.
Checking various locations for the kind and thickness of the insulation that is currently in place should allow homeowners to determine the level of insulation. On the off chance that the house is a more up to date one, the manufacturer ought to have the option to give these subtleties. However, you will need to manually inspect the attic insulation in Etobicoke in an older home.
To check the exterior walls, first turn off the circuit and remove the cover plates from some electrical switches or outlets in different areas of the house. A visual examination can assist with uncovering what is situated behind the drywall. A visual inspection can also be carried out by drilling a small hole in a closet against an exterior wall where it won’t be noticed.
Make sure to look for attic insulation Etobicoke in the floors, crawl spaces, and basements. Insulation for the home’s main floor should be visible from an unfinished crawl space or basement if it is built on top of one. The fiberglass batts ought to have a plastic or paper backing that acts as a vapor barrier.
By digging around the outside of the basement and looking for any rigid foam that may have been applied, you can determine whether or not the foundation is insulated.
You now want to know how to add more insulation, right? Most of the time, the attic is the easiest place to add insulation, and it can also save you the most energy. By looking across the uncovered attic floor, you can quickly check the attic insulation Etobicoke in the attic. More insulation is a good idea if the insulation is level with or below the attic floor joists. Laying fiberglass batts (also known as blankets) or blowing in cellulose insulation are two methods of adding insulation to an attic. The task can be completed by a professional or by renting equipment from a home improvement store by a willing homeowner.
Be sure to never obstruct loft vents. To ensure that the eave or soffit vents continue to provide airflow to the attic and under the roof sheathing, adding insulation to an attic should be done carefully. In addition, insulation should not be installed on top of or around recessed lighting fixtures or flue pipes. There ought to be something like 3 crawls of air leeway around light apparatuses and vent pipes. Vapor retardants that are attached to blanket or roll attic insulation Etobicoke must be oriented correctly. Make sure to read all of the instructions that come with the insulation and inquire from the suppliers about the appropriate R-Value for your project. The R-value is a measure of thermal resistance that is utilized in the building and construction industry.