Should I Insulate My Home?

When you’ve decided to remodel it’s the best time to do a little upgrade on the insulation as well; if you’re using a contactor and you can get him involved, all the better. Remember that overhauling the insulation does several things for your home like saving you energy and money and cutting down on the noise from outside. There are a variety of different types of insulation to choose from and several different ways to install it. To understand how insulation works, it’s necessary to understand how heat travels through the house.

 Generally, there are three ways that air travels through your home and the first of these is called convection. That means the heat is transported on the air or water and the homeowner can control this method by stopping up the air leaks. Radiation is the next method, but it doesn’t mean what you might think. This only means that heat radiates from a hotter surface to a cooler one. For example, you reduce unwanted radiation by shading windows. The third way that heat travels through your home is through conduction whereby it is transferred from molecule to molecule.

As well, there are a couple of times where you should insulate and if you’ve got any of these issues, it could very well be time to look into having the job done. If your house was built before 1980, you might need to insulate, or as discussed already, when you’re remodeling. When you find that your energy bills are higher than the neighbor’s in a similar sized home is another good indicator, and when you can hear the neighbors from inside your home it’s generally time to get the work done.

It’s good to know too that you’re doing your part for the environment by considering insulating. Most insulation products have green qualities. In other words, over time installing new insulation helps to curb resource depletion. However, like everything else, some of these products are better than others and some are not good at all.  For example, chlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons are both bad for the ozone layer. There are some new products on the market however that can replace these others with several rigid insulation choices. Foam insulation has long been the choice of those who want to be ecofriendly in their insulation choices. There are other concerns that you can look for as well.

Boron has long been a main component in the traditional kinds of insulation that we buy. There are some concerns about the rapid depletion of this resource and some American statistics state that there is only a 54-year supply of this material. The concern here is that if Boron is used continually in the insulation products that we use in our homes, the cost will rise over time as the quantity depletes. Experts are now working on a Boron free fiberglass insulation that will guarantee the conservation of this valuable resource.  

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