If you have a home that isn’t well insulated, you can expect to have to pay more money on your monthly energy bills. This happens not only because a poorly insulated home forces the furnace and air conditioning to run more frequently, but also because it could necessitate the use of additional space heaters or window air conditioners if the interior temperature isn’t regulated well enough.
Upgrading your insulation is a project that provides a great return on investment. While it’s always best to consult and work with a professional to install insulation in northern California, there are some DIY options that you can keep in mind as well if you’re interested in upgrading your insulation this year.
With this in mind, here are some DIY tips for insulating your home that you may find useful:
Patch up leaks: One of the best things you can do to keep your interior air temperatures stable is to cover up any leaks with weatherproofing strips or caulking. The materials you need for patching up these leaks won’t cost you much at your local hardware store, but the energy you save can be a big difference-maker in your monthly bills. These leaks tend to be around doors and windows, but you may notice them in other areas around your home as well.
Use thick curtains: Thicker types of curtains, such as blackout curtains that are thickly lined, can help you keep the heat or cool air in your home. You can even add fleece liners to your existing curtains if you don’t want to have to go out and purchase all new curtains for your home. Drawing your curtains while heating or cooling your home can help add some extra insulation.
Plug your chimney: If your chimney isn’t actually being used, you can plug the hole with a “chimney balloon,” a device that’s covered in a laminate material that can be inflated once inside the chimney, effectively sealing it off. This closes off one pathway for air to escape and can help you make your home more energy efficient.
Address attic air leaks: The attic is one of the places in your home that is most likely to experience some significant heat loss. Insulating your attic space with foam can be a cost-effective and simple way of lowering your heating costs. Even a reflective foil material can be used—it won’t provide you with quite the same level of insulation, but it is still pretty cost-effective and will save you some money over time. Staple those foil sheets to the rafters on the roof in your attic.
Use a door snake: A door snake is a weatherproofing item that sits along the bottom of your door to prevent air from entering or leaving your home. You can make a DIY door snake with some items you likely have lying around your home.
For more information about DIY home insulation in northern California, or for professional assistance with your project, contact the team at Ace Insulation Inc. today. We look forward to helping you soon!
Springtime is here, and summer is just around the corner. You may be considering taking on a remodeling or renovation project in your home this year, and if so, you may consider performing an energy audit on your home. This type of inspection is used to determine how much energy your home uses, and what the most effective methods are to make your home more energy efficient.
What you’ll frequently find is that by replacing the insulation in certain parts of your home, you’ll be able to cut down on quite a bit of your energy usage. While upgrades to your insulation aren’t necessarily the most exciting job you can tackle in your home, especially since there’s no real aesthetic value to it, there are still plenty of other reasons why insulation upgrades can be extremely beneficial to your home.
With this in mind, checking your insulation this spring can be a great place to start. Here are just a few reasons why focusing on your insulation in northern California could be a great idea for you as you get ready for your remodeling this year:
Cut down on energy costs: By replacing your insulation, you can save anywhere from 5 to 30 percent on your monthly energy bills. Those savings add up significantly over time. Spring is the perfect time of year to make these upgrades, because you don’t have to worry about extreme temperatures. You’ll then be able to get the full benefits of the improved R-value offered by your insulation once the heat of summer hits.
Improve your air quality: Inspecting your insulation could result in your finding some serious issues with wet, moldy insulation and poor ventilation, all of which can cause major air quality problems in your home and potential issues with asthma, allergies and other respiratory conditions. Your inspector can determine whether the insulation you currently have in your home meets the basic safe living standards, and can also give you some ideas about how you can improve your home’s air quality by upgrading your insulation. Air quality is something you should never feel like you need to compromise on, so if your insulation is potentially hazardous to your health in its current state, it’s a good idea to do something about it.
Improve your home’s value: Insulation is one of the jobs homeowners tend to take on if they’re looking at putting it on the market sometime soon. But even if you have no plans of selling your home, it’s still a job that can add quite a bit of value to your property, and it will have a good return on investment. An energy efficient home is more attractive to buyers, as it offers them chances to save money and stay more reliably comfortable.
These are just a few examples of some of the biggest benefits associated with upgrading your insulation in northern California. Reach out to Ace Insulation Inc. today to learn more about our services or to schedule a consultation.
Insulation is an essential component of any building or structure. Not only does insulation help you regulate and maintain the temperature in your home to increase your comfort throughout the year, it can also make a big difference when it comes to the energy efficiency of your home and the amount that you spend on power to heat and cool your home. To ensure that you are getting the best value possible out of your insulation, consider the types of insulation that are best for energy conservation and cost savings.
Most efficient insulation types
The efficiency of your insulation can have a big impact on the amount of money you spend every year on your energy bills. By selecting insulation in Northern California that offers high levels of efficiency, you can enjoy long-term cost benefits throughout the year. While all insulation is designed to deliver effective performance to help regulate temperatures in commercial and residential buildings, not all insulation materials offer the same level of efficiency. With that in mind, it’s important to consider the types of insulation that are going to offer the best efficiency and energy savings possible. Two of the most energy efficient insulation options are cellulose and spray foam insulation.
Cellulose insulation in Northern California is made up primarily of recycled fibers like newspapers, along with additional components designed to repel insects and reduce the flammability of your insulation. Because cellulose is made up mostly of recycled materials, it is considered one of the most eco-friendly insulation products. Cellulose insulation offers a similar level of insulation as fiberglass, but it’s also far more versatile. Cellulose can be blown into cavities, which makes it possible to insulate inside walls when all you have is a small access hole. This makes it easy to insulate spaces like attics without deconstructing your walls or going through extensive installation projects.
Spray foam insulation is another efficient insulation option. Spray foam is applied as a liquid and hardens and cures into a solid foam material that stops airflow and prevents drafts and thermal heat transfer. Unlike other fibrous types of insulation, spray foam acts as a total seal. Because of the strength of the seal that spray foam insulation creates, it offers incredible efficiency in many homes. However, spray foam insulation isn’t suitable for every space, so it’s important to get professional recommendations before you make a decision about any insulation material for your home. They will be able to give you a consultation to help you find the right type of insulation.
Find high-quality insulation in Northern California
You can find out more about all of your options when it comes to insulation in Northern California by reaching out to the team at Ace Insulation Inc. For years, we have been proud to provide comprehensive insulation services for commercial and residential customers alike. As a locally owned and operated business, we are dedicated to the quality of our services and the satisfaction of our customers. You can find out more about everything that we have to offer by giving our team a call today.
If you own your own home, costs for electricity, natural gas, water and sewer add, on average, 25 percent to your monthly housing expenses. If you want to try and keep your energy bills down, you may want to consider investing in home insulation installation in Petaluma, CA. Reinsulating or adding insulation to your home can amount to significant monthly savings. How much can you save? Let’s take a look.
What type of insulated home do you have?
Before we talk about how much you can save by insulating your home, we need to first determine what type of insulated home you currently have. There are three different types of insulated homes:
Leaky house: Homes in this category are the most poorly insulated. These homes are often older and consist of solid walls with no insulation, single glazed windows, uninsulated floors and gaps in seams around windows, doors and other seams. To maintain a comfortable temperature in a home like this requires about 300 kilowatt hours of energy per square meter per year.
Modern house: This home is the most common. It has insulation between the walls, in the attic and under the floor, as well as double-glazed windows and well-sealed seams. The cost to maintain a comfortable temperature in a home like this is about 150 kilowatt hours per square meter per year.
Passive house: This type of home is perfectly insulated. All materials used to build the home provide superior insulation, including triple-glazed windows, airtight seams combined with an efficient ventilation system and insulation in the walls, attic and floors. To maintain a comfortable temperature in a home like this, you only need about 15 kilowatt hours per square meter per year.
How much money can you save?
How much money you will save by properly insulating your home depends on what type of home you currently have. An average-sized leaky house costs about $1,500 in energy bills per year, a modern home costs about $750 and a passive home costs only about $100 per year. Total savings will depend on what type of home you have and how much insulation you are willing to install. For example, if you have a leaky house and install insulation to convert your home into a modern house, your annual savings would be about $750 per year.
Into this equation, however, you need to also consider the cost of installing insulation. For example, while converting a leaky house into a passive house may save you $1,500 per year in energy costs, the upfront cost of installing new windows and insulation under the floor, in the attic and in solid walls is significant and may not be worth the investment (or, in some cases, even feasible).
If you want to know how much a home insulation installation in Petaluma, CA can save you, reach out to the experts at Ace Insulation Inc. We specialize in insulation installation for new homes and renovations. Just call today to schedule your consultation with one of our professionals!
How old is your home? If you need to insulate an older home, you have to face several myths about insulation in Petaluma, CA. These rumors can affect your insulation choices, installation methods and the future energy efficiency of your house.
With all this in mind, it’s important to know what’s fact and what’s fiction. To sort out the truth, use the following debunking guide.
Myth: To insulate my older home, I should blow insulation into the walls.
This is a common mistake made by owners of older homes. Built with a lack of modern energy efficiency, older homes often have uninsulated walls and offer a cold, drafty interior. To combat this, homeowners logically conclude they should insulate the walls to make the home more comfortable and efficient. However, this can cause structural damage, encourage exterior paint failure and invite termites. The blown insulation can cause the walls to mold and rot due to improper airflow.
Myth: Insulation of older homes should begin in the walls.
Your insulation process should actually begin with the attic. A poorly insulated attic is a major source of heat loss in the winter and heat retention in the summer. Insulating this space will make a significant impact on the comfort level of your home and the bottom line on your utility bills.
Many older homes have unfinished attics that have not been conditioned properly for the climate. Add insulation to the underside of the roof, then blow insulation on the floor of the attic. This will barricade your home against the drafty air of the attic and keep the living spaces below more climate-controlled.
Myth: The first step to insulating the basement or crawl space of an older home is to place batts into the stud bays.
This sounds like a good idea, right? It is. In fact, this is exactly what you should do to insulate your older home’s basement or crawl space. This will insulate the floors above, making floors warmer and more inviting year-round.
The myth portion of the statement is that this should be your first step. Before you install the insulation, you should rodent-proof the space. Place wire screens around any openings or use foam spray to seal off any holes. The idea is to make sure no rodents can access the area, since the batting will be an inviting nesting place for these creatures. If you don’t properly seal the area first, rodents will quickly destroy your insulation in Petaluma, CA and create a mess of your home.
Myth: The cost of insulation is irrelevant because I will save so much over the years in utility bills.
Some quick math can easily debunk this myth. First, you might be spending money on the wrong type of insulation methods, as discussed previously. This will end up costing you more in repairs. Second, you should always evaluate the cost of a project vs. ROI. Consider this example: You spend $3,000 to have your house insulated. This saves you $200 a year on HVAC costs (a typical savings for owners of older homes). It will take you 15 years to recoup your investment. This might be worthwhile, or you might want to consider alternative methods of insulation in Petaluma, CA.
Ask the Myth Busters
Do you have questions about the best way to insulate your older home? Contact the experienced team at Ace Insulation Inc. today!
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