However, it all ends up with saving energy bills spent on heating and cooling. Loss of energy causes your electric bills to increase. It doesn’t matter if you are reheating the home during cold seasons or cooling the home during the summer months. Its unnecessary heat gains force you to incur more cooling costs during hot days.
Your home has bills leaking; how to fix it?
The average home loses about 11 percent of its total energy costs through attics, windows and doors openings, crawlspaces, joists, and poor ventilation. That’s about $600 per year, depending on the size and age of the home. Yet, the cost of installing insulation is way lesser than the amount of money lost through energy loss through heating and cooling. Sockets, wirings, HVAC systems, and other outlets are also common places through which heat is lost or gained.
Attic Insulation in Walnut Creek, CA
Installing attic insulation can be achieved in different ways – by using spray foams, fiberglass loose-fills, fiberglass batts, and cellulose. Other materials used in insulation have different heat transfer abilities of resistance represented by their R-values. R-value is the amount of heat the material prevents its loss per inch. Hence materials with higher R values have better insulation properties than those with lower R-values.
The easiest way of insulating the attic ventilation is by using fiberglass batts. These are used in insulating almost any other area in the home.
However, you may choose other insulation methods because it takes time to roll out these batts. Cellulose, which is bought from local stores in insulation bags, can also be used. You can either install them as wet-spray cellulose or use a cellulose blower. The wet-spray method helps to control the dust from cellulose. It also increases the insulation value per inch. Loose-fill fiberglass can also be bought in bags and spread using a machine as it is hard to apply it using hands. It is itchy on the hands and affects the lungs, especially if old.
The closed-cell and open-cell spray forms are the best when you want to protect your attic from loss of heat. The two have R-values of 6.5 and 3.6, respectively, which is higher than that of loose-fiber glass (2.5 per inch).
Wall Insulation
The best way of insulating your external and internal walls is by using rigid boards. These are also installed with vapor barriers to prevent entry or loss of vapor. Interior walls are also insulated using form or cellulose and fiberglass batts. When installed to insulate walls, form has other benefits such as preventing mold and mildew better than any other form of insulation. It also expands better than other forms; hence can enter even the most far-reaching cavities you want to seal. Thus, it can provide sealing even around screws, nails, wires, boxes, and other spaces. Otherwise, form injection does not risk damaging your wall.
Crawl Space Insulation
You will require different forms of installation depending on whether the crawl space is insulated or not. If the crawl space is not ventilated, you can avoid insulating the ducts and pipes separately by insulating its walls. Also, protect the dirt floor by installing a polyurethane vapor barrier and covering this barrier with sand instead of the subfloor of the upper room.
You also end up installing less amount of insulation. It is also advisable to spray the crawl space with bacteria and fungicides when installing new insulation. Professional installers also remove and dispose of old insulation more carefully to prevent damage to other areas.
Air Sealing
The first step to air-sealing your home is performing an airtightness test. Areas to target for air sealing include the windows and doors. These require caulking and weather-stripping using a special material. Form sealant is helpful when you want to seal gaps around windows and doors. Storm windows or more efficient windows of low emissivity are used to seal window openings and make them airtight.
You can also replace doors with those that have pliable sealing gaskets. Air also enters and leaves a building through cracks, sockets, and electrical wiring on walls, floors, and ceilings. These also need to be caulked and sealed. Switchplates and outlets are also common areas for air entrance and exit. You can contact the foam insulation company to install foam gaskets to render these areas airtight.
Rodent Proofing
Rodents take advantage of cracks, openings, holes, and other hiding places in a home. Sealing these places is the best way to keep them off of your home. The first step to rodent proofing is to discover all the areas in the walls, foundations, sheds, and crawl spaces where they could hide or enter through. Rodents can then be discouraged in a home by covering holes using heavy-gauge wire screening.
You can also stuff holes using metal mesh to discourage them from hiding in spaces around pipes. You can also use vent covers, and door sweeps to prevent rodents from entering the house by blocking the entry spaces. Ensure to repair all cables instead of leaving them to spread all over. Mice also use open and old worn insulation as nests, ensuring all insulation is well covered.
Rodent proofing a home also includes removing attractants such as excessive food and spills. Watch for spilled seeds and fallen fruits. Pet food can also attract rodents and should be covered after use. Clean the eatery and plates after use. The compost pit and garbage are also attractants for rodent infestation and should be secured and protected where possible. Ensure no items are stacked, such as to form hiding places for rodents.
Insulation Removal
The method of removing insulation from the home depends on the type of insulation. Attic Renew 360 can remove fiberglass rolls with hands. These must be handled carefully to prevent contaminating the air. Rotting attic rafters are removed by cutting with a chisel and prying them out with a pry bar.
Cellulose is removed by sanctioning and vacuuming the spaces with air blowers. Ensure to cover the floor to prevent the dust from dirtying it.
Experienced insulation professionals use spray form removal machines to remove the insulation with no time and effort. You can also remove it slowly by cutting it piece by piece with a knife, although this takes time. Nail polish removers (and similar) are also used to remove this type of insulation, although it can be expensive.
Radiant Barrier in Walnut Creek, CA
Summer heat gains in a home can be controlled and reduced using radiant barriers. The effect will be to reduce your cooling bills. Once installed, the material works by radiant heat away from the building instead of absorbing it. These materials include foil-faced kraft paper, polyethylene bubbles, or cardboard, and plastic films. They can be installed on regular or irregular spaces and openings.
Although most people prefer insulation of other types, radiant barriers are more effective and can reduce cooling costs by up to 10%, where your air conditioner should run all the time. This applies in warm climates. Otherwise, they can be more expensive to install in cold temperatures than extra thermal insulation.
