Author: Ace Insulation

When people decide to make changes or improvements to their home, it is not a decision that they should make hastily. Oftentimes, these home improvement projects are rather large, can take quite some time to complete and may cost thousands of dollars. With many looking to make the smartest decision for themselves and their home, before people move forward, they will want to look at a number of factors. For example, homeowners who are considering insulation in Petaluma, CA should think about the following:

• Whether insulation is necessary: There are a lot of home improvement tasks that people decide to start even though things don’t actually need to be improved. Just because you are considering having your home insulated doesn’t actually mean it needs to be done. To help you determine if insulation is necessary, you can look for certain signs. For example, cold floors and a high energy bill are both signs that your home needs to be better insulated. If possible, you can call in a professional to give you their opinion and help you decide.
• Timing: Timing is very important when you are planning to do any type of home improvement project. Insulation can pretty much be done at any time of year, but if you are insulating to keep warm during the winter, you’ll want to get things done prior to the start of the colder months. In many cases, if a person has other home improvement projects going on, it would be ideal to insulate during this time, so you don’t feel put out of your home for longer than necessary.
• Cost: Insulating your home is not something that you can do for a few dollars. Cost will play a major role in whether or not you insulate your home, so you will want to look at how much you are willing to spend and what company can get the job done for a price within their budget. It may be a pain to shop around and get estimates, but it will be worth it if you find a company that can give you what you want for a price you are willing to pay.
• Type of insulation: Once you decide to insulate your home, you will need to choose which type of insulation you would like. With there being different types of insulation and a number of benefits to choosing one over the other, homeowners should look at every type of insulation that is offered by the company that they choose to work with. This is especially important if people are looking to avoid things like a high energy bill every month.

Although many people do not realize it, there are a lot of homes around the United States that are not well insulated. As a result, the people living in these home suffer in more ways than one. Whether you want to keep warm in your home during the winter or avoid paying a high energy bill, insulating your home is a wise decision.

Anyone considering installing new residential insulation in Petaluma, CA should contact Ace Insulation Inc. to schedule an appointment.

The benefits of establishing a net zero home are countless. You will be helping extend the life of our environment, saving money and creating a healthier atmosphere for your family to live in. You too can reap these benefits and achieve a net zero home with the help of insulation service in Petaluma, CA.

What is a net zero home?

The goal of any net zero home is to create an energy efficient home that is both comfortable and enjoyable to live in, while also storing and reusing the energy created for future consumption. This type of home greatly reduces the carbon footprint left on the environment because it is designed to sustain itself.

Another important characteristic of a net zero home is the ability to be able to use what is produced naturally for energy, causing you to be less reliant on other methods that could potentially hurt the environment. Take, for example, the use of electricity. Instead of relying solely on conventional methods of electricity, net zero energy homes use many different, creative ways to power themselves. Many of these homes are powered using solar energy, while others may use wind or geothermal energy. When using solar energy, the net zero houses are positioned in a way that allows them to take full advantage of the sun’s light and warmth as much as possible during the daytime.

A net zero home will also use quality building materials during construction to ensure that while the sun is being used thoroughly, the home will not be subject to overexposure. But in order to truly take advantage of solar energy and achieve a home that boasts net zero capabilities, insulation must play a key role.

What role does insulation play?

In order for your home to sustain itself and create and use renewable energy, you have to find a way to make sure that the energy flow that is already in progress is not broken, and spray foam insulation is the perfect way to do this. How much insulation you will have to use will be determined by the climate, as well as the responsiveness of your home to this climate. The ultimate goal, though, is to have your house sealed so well that you are facilitating the flow of energy within your home, allowing you to become less reliant on artificially created energy.

This is why insulation is critical to any net zero home. Spray foam insulation offers the best sealing properties around doors and windows, and in other hard-to-reach places that allow energy to escape your home. Once this insulation barrier has been installed, your home will be able to use the energy that is already flowing more effectively. Over time, the more energy you are able to store inside, the more renewable energy you will have, and the more your energy bills will decrease.

Overall, insulation service in Petaluma, CA makes the home less reliant on HVAC systems, which will lead to much smaller energy bills and an almost non-existent footprint on the environment. Contact Ace Insulation Inc. to find out how your family can reap the benefits of a fully insulated home.

Many older houses in California had been built without insulation, meaning right now there is a hot market for insulation both in new construction and for retrofitting older homes. Putting in insulation adds value to your home and allows it to be significantly more energy efficient.

One of the most popular types of insulation in Petaluma, CA is blown-in cellulose, which can be especially excellent for remodeling purposes. Here are a few of the many benefits of blown-in cellulose insulation for remodeling:

• Environmentally friendly: Studies by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) indicate that cellulose insulation manufactured from recycled paper is the least polluting form of insulation. It features the highest amount of post-consumer recycled content, at a minimum of 75 percent. Compare this to fiberglass, for example, which averages only 35 percent recycled glass by volume.
• Energy efficient: The NRDC has also found cellulose insulation to be the most energy-efficient form of insulation. It has significantly better resistance to airflow than other forms, and prevents air moving upward when temperatures rise and drop. Compare this to fiberglass insulation, which has a retention value that decreases by as much as 50 percent when temperatures drop from 45 degrees Fahrenheit to 18 degrees Fahrenheit. Even the production of cellulose insulation is more energy efficient, as it takes more than 10 times as much energy to create fiberglass insulation as it does to make cellulose insulation.
• Safe for use: There is a wide variety of major (and well documented) health risks associated with fiberglass, especially when it becomes airborne. However, there are no adverse health effects that have been reported arising out of use of cellulose insulation.
• Durable: Properly installed cellulose will never settle inside the walls, which means there will always be even insulation and air protection. It also does not rot, mildew or decay, and will not support any fungus or mold growth. Not only does this mean that it will retain its energy saving abilities with long lasting use, but it will also prevent a reduction in air quality associated with molds and fungi. Finally, cellulose is non-corrosive to copper, steel and aluminum, meaning you do not have to worry about it weakening your plumbing over the course of time.
• Financial savings: Cellulose insulation will help you to dramatically decrease your monthly heating and cooling bills over time. Cellulose is the type of insulation that performs most consistently in both summer and winter.
• Reach all areas: Blowing the insulation into the walls ensures you will reach all of the areas that would otherwise be hard to get to. Once it is in place, the insulation expands to cover all open areas inside of the walls. It is also a significantly less invasive option than, say, having to tear down walls to install the insulation in your home.

Blown-in cellulose insulation has become extremely popular because of all of these benefits. Contact us today at Ace Insulation, Inc. for more information about insulation in Petaluma, CA.

Ever since the economic downturn, more people have been focused on living small and within their means. Gone are the days when McMansions were the big dream of people across the United States. Instead, the younger generation is increasingly happier to live in small spaces that allow them to maintain their mobility.

As a result, tiny homes and shipping container homes have become increasingly popular. A quick Google search for “shipping container homes” reveals a number of extremely unique and clever tiny homes that people have made for themselves in small spaces.

People who have embraced this lifestyle clearly have no problems with living in a smaller environment and limiting the amount of possessions they hold onto. However, one major challenge that could arise with such a tiny home is how exactly one will insulate it. After all, many of these materials and containers used to create tiny homes were not originally built with human habitation in mind.

Here are a few considerations for tiny home insulation installation in Petaluma, CA:

• Spray foam is an option: Depending on the style of tiny home you have created for yourself, there is the opportunity to use blown-in foam insulation. Such insulation has a very high R value, and there would be no leaks that get into your home. However, it also tends to be a more expensive option, which could be an issue for people who are interested in a tiny home to begin with.
• Fiberglass could be ideal: Fiberglass insulation is fairly inexpensive and relatively easy to install. While it doesn’t have the highest R value of all the insulations available, it is certainly good enough where it will keep a tiny home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
• DIY solutions: Some people across the Internet have reported other ways of combining various types of insulation solutions, or making their own insulations. For example, one person purchased Styrofoam boards and supplemented them with spray foam to ensure the entire area was covered. This can be a slightly more complicated solution, but it is effective in the sense that it would have a reasonable R value.
• Less-common options: There are plenty of other options in terms of insulation materials for tiny homes. While these are less common than fiberglass or cellulose, they can be especially good choices for tiny spaces or homes that are going to be mobile. Examples include rock wool, rigid foam, expanded polystyrene, denim, cotton, polyisocyanurate foam, closed cell and more.

The important thing to keep in mind with whatever insulation choice you use is that the type of material your home is made of could influence your decision. If, for example, your tiny home is made primarily of wood, you would likely choose a different insulation than if it were made primarily of metal.

For more information about tiny home insulation installation in Petaluma, CA, reach out to our helpful team at Ace Insulation, Inc. today. We are happy to answer your questions.