In
temperate and other colder countries mostly in the West, home insulation is
more of a necessity than an option.
This is because climate changes in these countries are always in the extreme.
In terms of costs, it is also better to dispense the use of your electric
heaters that can cost you a fortune in energy expenses.
The
initial expenses for insulation your home is decidedly substantial enough.
However, this one time expense trumps the monthly expenses you have to shell
out for your energy bills which do not have any expiration whatsoever.
House types
In
dealing with insulation proper, certain conditions need to be considered. New
houses at present are now usually built with good insulation standards. In
comparison, the older houses built some years back (maybe 20 years ago) can be
considered insulation defective.
The
new owners are retro-fitting these structured to improve their energy efficiency
levels. Meantime, the new houses are all insulated very properly and air-tight
as they are. In fact, these houses do not need any heating system at all.
Materials
There
are now many good materials that you can use as home insulators. These would include
the mineral and glass wools, and on denser forms, they can be used as batts and
slabs. (These come in blankets and rolls.) They have about 25% greater
insulation index compared to the others.
Another
example would be your fiberglass insulation. Fiberglass keeps your home cool in
the summer while keeping it warm in winter. The insulation simply resists the
flow of heat. Heat as an energy flows out of the home in winter and flows
inside in summer.
With the
reduction of the heat flow, the properly insulated home uses less energy for
heating and cooling. All in all, this saves you energy and lowers your
electricity bill.
Sound insulation
In
addition, the material can also double up as your sound insulation working as a
sound absorber. When installed in walls and ceilings, it can reduce the
transmission of unnecessary sound from one room to another or those coming in
from the outside.
Since
these days are getting noisier everyday, more homeowners are also soundproofing
their houses. A well-insulated home means overall comfort. (This can increase the
resale value should you decide to sell it.)
Areas
Right
now, there are only a few places in your home that must be insured to have a
good insulation work. They would include the floors, the walls and the
ceilings. With insulation, your comfort is assured while your energy bills go
down.
The
other places you need to insulate would be your ceiling with unheated spaces,
basement walls, floors above vented crawl spaces, cathedral ceiling, floors over
unheated garages and porches, knee walls and those in-between interior walls
(like the bathrooms).
Other items
When
we talk on the exact amount of insulation needed for your house, you need to
check on where you live. Look it up from the files of the U.S. Department of
Energy and the International Energy Conservation Code.
The
materials for your home insulation must possess good thermal performance (R-value),
fire safety, and lifetime performance.
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