Lowering your Bills by Investing in Home Insulation
When it comes to home maintenance, making sure your home is well insulated is one of the best ways to invest your money and get an immediate return by saving energy and lowering your bills. Unless your house was built specifically with the latest methods of construction for energy efficiency, chance are that your bills could be reduced by adding more insulation. Older homes, in fact, tend to have less insulation material in their walls or under their roofs than homes built more recently. Building technology has also noticeably advanced in the last three decades, and the utilization of more efficient insulating materials makes newly built houses more cost effective.
What good and bad insulation can do to your bills
The use of energy efficient insulation is the most essential factor in making your entire home energy efficient. With the help of veteran construction professionals specialized in air sealing and home insulation, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) was able to estimate that homeowners can save on average 15% on their heating and cooling costs by make sure that the attic of their home is air sealed and has proper and sufficient insulation.
Poor or missing insulation allows cold air or heat inside the home, slowing down your HVAC or other cooling and heating system and creating constant changes in the indoor temperature, which in turn makes your home less comfortable.
How to fix it
Walls, attics, windows, and doors are the main areas responsible for a lot of heating and cooling dispersion, followed by crawling spaces and basements. Targeting and adding insulation to each one and all of these areas will significantly improve your house energy efficiency level and reduce energy costs. Effective insulation will prevent heat entering the house in summer and escaping during winter.
Material like fiberglass, cellulose and insulating foam are typically used, for the purpose, and they are all excellent choices to reduce heat conduction from and out of the walls. Blow-in insulation is also a good system to improve comfort and save energy, especially for stud walls with empty cavities in between. However, regardless of the insulating method, proper installation is key to the success of a home insulation project. Specialized contractors often use an infrared camera during and after the installation to avoid leaving unhandled spaces behind.
Old windows and doors can also be leaking air and should be replaced or at least weather remedied with weather stripping. Modern energy efficient doors and windows are the only guarantee to effectively reduce energy bills and improve comfort.
What we can do for you
Keeping up with the latest researches regarding energy efficiency and following the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is what every construction company should do to safeguard a homeowner’s investment and make his home completely energy efficient. At Montclair Construction, we have the necessary expertise and experience to inspect, repair and install the right insulation for your home or property.
Saving energy and money in your home is possible. Call us today for a FREE consultation and estimate.
