Did you know that about half of the energy we use to heat or cool our homes would leak out without insulation? When we think of insulation, we usually associate it with keeping our home warm in the winter season, but insulation helps just as much in the summer months.
Attics can reach sweltering temperatures of up to 150 degrees in the summertime. Having a hot attic and little insulation between it and the rest of your home means that, on a hot day this extreme heat can “leak” into your home through your ceilings.
Hot Attics Mean Hot Houses
Even a little bit of hot air of that temperature making its way into your house can drastically increase the cost of cooling your home. Unfortunately, building materials like wood and drywall soak up heat easily and radiate it back. With no insulation to keep your ceiling from soaking up the heat from the sun, that heat will, in turn, radiate down into your home causing the temperature to rise and more money to be wasted trying to cool it. For homes that have their ductwork run through their attic, this problem is exaggerated because the heat in the attic can suck all of the coolness from the air and result in your ducts blowing warm air. Proper attic insulation and ventilation will help to greatly reduce rising temperatures in your attic.
Older Homes May Have No or Less Effective Attic Insulation
If your home is older, it may not have any insulation in the attic. Or if you haven’t added to your insulation in years, it may be compressed and therefore less effective. Either way, you could be losing heating and cooling dollars every single day. Insulation works by trapping little pockets of air that then form an air barrier between the inside and outside temperatures. Because these pockets of air can’t move, they can’t travel through the insulation to transfer their heat. Over time, insulation settles, is introduced to moisture which weighs it down, and may even get walked on occasionally all of which presses these pockets of air out of the insulation making it less effective. If you own an older home, it’s important to make sure you have adequate insulation. In moderate climates, the minimum recommended R-value is R-30 for an attic, R-11 for walls, R-19 for raised floors, and R-4.2 for ductwork.
A Small Investment in Attic Insulation Can Make a Big Difference
Considering that about half of a household’s entire energy bill goes to heating and cooling, and attic insulation is relatively inexpensive, there’s little money to be lost and lots to be gained from insulating your attic. You’ll reduce heating and cooling bills, give your furnace and air conditioner a break, and improve the comfort in your home. For a free home insulation evaluation, call Henges Insulation today.
