Preparing For Winter: Home Insulation

As the weather cools, it’s time to turn up the heat. But if your home is lacking proper insulation, you could be heating the great outdoors along with the inside of your home. Heat loss due to poor insulation can lead to higher energy bills, uneven heating, and cold or drafty areas of your home, despite heating. So if you’re ready to crank up the heat, make sure you have proper home insulation before you start!

Types of Home Insulation

There are four main types of home insulation:

• Rolls and batts
• Loose-fill
• Rigid foam
• Foam-in-place

Rolls and batts are types of insulation that come in sheets. The sheets are typically made of fibers, such as fiberglass, held in place by an outer layer of paper or thin plastic. They have been used for decades when building new homes. They are usually less useful for improving insulation in existing homes since they need to be installed before the drywall is put up. For some situations where the frame of the house is exposed, such as in an attic, rolls may still be an option.

Loose fill is made up tiny shreds of material, typically fiberglass or cellulose, that is blown into a space. This is a good option for existing structures because the insulation can be blown into the space of a finished wall with minimal damage to the wall.

Rigid foam is made up of sheets or blocks of hard foam insulation. Like rolled insulation, rigid foam must be installed before the drywall is put up and when the frame is still visible. Rigid foam has some of the highest r-values per thickness of any type of insulation. R-value is a measure of how well a material prevents heat conduction. It is a typical measure to quantify the effectiveness of insulation. With its high r-values relative to its thickness, rigid foam insulation is useful for areas where walls are thin, and there is little room for insulation.

Foam in place is a type of foam insulation that is applied with a caulking gun to a small area or a hose to a larger area. It leaves the gun or hose as a liquid but quickly expands into a foam. Once cured, the foam is hard and forms a nearly airtight seal and a very high r-value. While this type of insulation can be used for whole walls, it is often reserved for small areas with air leaks that need to be sealed off.

R.S. Andrews Insulation

R.S. Andrews has been serving the Atlanta Metro Area for over 50 years. They offer services including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and duct cleaning. They also provide excellent insulation services to help homeowners keep their homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer without blowing their budgets.

If you’re not sure if you need to upgrade or repair your home insulation, as yourself the following questions:

• Are my heating and cooling costs higher than my neighbors with similar homes/
• Do I notice that certain parts of my home are warmer in the summer or cooler in the winter
• Are my heating and cooling uneven throughout the house?
• Do I feel a draft?
• Is my house unusually dusty, despite regular cleaning?
• Is my air quality poor?
• Have I noticed excessive condensation or humidity in the house?
• Is my attic hotter than the rest of the house or is my roof prematurely aging?
• Do my pipes freeze in the winter, especially when my neighbors’ don’t?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, it’s time to schedule in insulation evaluation with R.S. Andrews Insulation. They will take the time to evaluate your current insulation and suggest solutions to keep your home at a comfortable temperature and reduce energy bills. Their services include blown insulation for hard-to-reach spots like in the spaces of finished walls. They can also perform weather sealing for areas where hot air is escaping in the winter and entering in the summer. In addition to insulation and weather sealing, R.S. Andrews provides a complete suite of other weatherization services to get your home ready for winter, summer, or whatever weather Mother Nature has in store.