It's not uncommon for homeowners to completely overlook the importance of attic insulation. It's a component of the home that is out of sight and often out of mind. But even without consideration, the insulation in your attic still has a significant impact on your home. If you're having trouble maintaining a comfortable temperature or are experiencing unusually high energy bills, then your attic may be the problem.
There are four primary types of attic insulation that we frequently utilize in South Florida. They include loose-fill fiberglass, fiberglass batts, spray foam, and cellulose. There are a few additional options that are used in more niche situations. The most important factor between each type of insulation is the "R-Value", which represents how well the insulation can resist heat.
At the end of the day, any sort of R-value increase is better than having no insulation at all. There are several benefits that come from installing insulation in the attic for the first time. Likewise, some homeowners could benefit from upgrading or improving their existing insulation. Let's take a closer look at a few of these benefits and whether or not they are worth your investment.
1. Keep Your Air Indoors
A home is never sealed well enough to fully prevent air leakage. However, there is a threshold where air leakage becomes too significant and detrimental to the home. The biggest impact of air leakage is loss of cool air. During a hot summer, a home can lose as much as 40 percent of its cool air via air leakage in the ceiling, walls, and floors. Luckily, all of these areas can be insulated to greatly reduce leakage.
Of the three problem areas (ceiling, floors, and walls), insulating the attic is actually one of the easiest, most affordable and will have the biggest effect on the house temperature. It rarely requires extensive construction or any form of remodeling. It only requires access to the attic and the tools needed to install the insulation. Our experts come with all of the tools and training required to remedy this problem.
2. Reduce Your Energy Bill
Losing heat through your attic can cause many problems. One of the biggest problems is the impact it has on your wallet each month. The more cold air you lose through the attic the more energy you will waste each month maintaining a comfortable temperature. Your home may still feel cool throughout the hot season, but your cooling equipment needs to work much harder than usual and run much longer than necessary, which results in an earlier need of cooling system replacement.
Insulating your attic is one of the few ways to keep that cold air trapped in your house. You'll immediately notice that the AC unit spends less time operating and more time waiting for the temperature to raise up to the necessary threshold. That can easily add up to thousands of dollars in savings over the lifespan of your cooling unit.
3. Keep Your HVAC Alive For Longer
Lowering your energy bills isn't the only way you'll save money. Spending more time operating means your cooling unit is undergoing more wear and tear than usual. This is especially true if it's pushed beyond its normal recommended operating settings. Cooling a home without adequate attic insulation can easily shave years off of the lifespan of your HVAC unit.
If you haven't paid to replace a cooling unit in the past, then you're in luck. It can be a very expensive and time-consuming process. Most homeowners would prefer getting the most from their system for as long as possible. That requires running it as seldom as possible without affecting the comfort level in the home. The only way to accomplish this is by trapping as much cold air as possible inside the home via insulation.
4. Increased Air Quality
This final benefit impacts more than just the wallet. It affects the health of you and anyone who lives in the house. A number of unwanted pollutants can enter the home through the attic. This includes debris like dirt, smoke, and mold. Fiberglass insulation in the attic works as a protective barrier to keep most of these pollutants at bay outside of the home. Those that do enter are ultimately trapped in the insulation as if it were a giant air filter.
A Smart Investment For Any Homeowner
Don't ignore the insulation situation in your attic. Just because you don't see inside the attic every day doesn't mean it doesn't impact your daily life. Investing in quality attic insulation will improve your indoor air quality, lower your monthly energy bills, and increase the lifespan of your HVAC equipment. It's a smart investment for any South Florida homeowner.
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