If you have experienced summer without proper cooling, you know this means more cold showers, lots of sweating, and box fans. Also, your home’s energy costs may rise significantly from the constant use of air conditioners. Making sure that your house is adequately insulated can help you keep the temperatures cool.
For example, whole-home insulation is one of the best ways to ensure that your family stays comfortable throughout the summer. Insulation works to keep the hot air out of your house. It is recommendable to engage an insulation expert when planning to insulate your home. With an expert, you can receive competent guidance on the insulation that could work best to keep your home cool.
Overview of Home Insulation
In most cases, home insulation is associated with cold weather and keeping the cold out. However, insulation is as helpful in hot weather. In summer, insulation of your roof, walls, and floors helps leave the heat outside and maintain a cool atmosphere in the house.
During the summer, our homes lose much more air to the outside than most people realize. The loss of air is a continuous and silent process that goes on throughout the summer. As your home loses cool air, an equal amount of hot air enters the house. A hot and sticky home can significantly interfere with your family’s comfort. Insulating your home could substantially improve the comfort of your home and save on energy costs.
Insulation seals off holes and slows down the movement of heat, and stops your home from overheating. The effectiveness of an insulation barrier in keeping your house will depend on the material used for insulation.
The heat of summer in the US can be pretty uncomfortable when your home is not insulated. Most people are likely to run air conditioners, fans, dehumidifiers and use home water coolers to beat the summer heat. The use of all these devices can increase energy bills. By installing insulation in your home, you can save on the energy used to cool your house. Even though insulating your home can be quite costly, you can quickly recover the money used by saving on energy bills throughout the summer.
Areas of Your Home You Should Insulate
Summer heat and humidity can quickly ruin your home’s comfort. This could prompt you to keep running the air conditioner for long hours. Fortunately, insulation and air sealing before summer are among the most effective ways to keep unwanted heat and humidity from your home.
Bringing your home insulation up to proper standards can help you save significantly on annual cooling costs. Before insulating your home, it is crucial to understand the most important areas to seal and insulate. It would be best if you targeted the following areas when insulating your home for summer:
Attic and Upstairs Bedrooms
In most houses, the attic and upstairs bedrooms are likely to be hotter than in other areas in summer. The excessive heat in these areas is often caused by under insulation and small holes in electric lines and plumbing vents. This allows hot air in your home, and it accumulates in the attic and radiates to other living spaces. Therefore, sealing the holes and insulation of your attic should be a top priority when you try to keep excessive heat out of your home. When insulating your attic, ensure to contact an insulation expert to guide the correct type of insulation.
Basement or Crawl Space
The basement and crawlspace in your home may be the coolest part of the summer. However, the wetness caused by high humidity in these areas could result in the growth of mold. Addressing the humidity and moisture in the basement may involve comprehensive approaches such as drainage, dehumidification, and mold remediation. Installing waterproof insulation will keep the moisture out and prevent all problems that arise.
Exterior Wall Insulation
The attic and roof of your home are not the only areas where heat seeps through into the house. If your attic has enough insulation but hot air still fills your house, chances are you need to insulate your interior walls. The sun hits your exterior walls, and if they are uninsulated, the heat will filter into the walls through the wall materials. Insulating your external walls is more expensive and requires a contractor for proper insulation. However, your efforts would greatly pay off when the weather becomes too hot.
If you plan to replace your exterior walls, it would be wiser to add insulation simultaneously. However, in an already existing home, you can use blow-in insulation, which provides adequate air sealing. Blow-in insulation can be added to your exterior walls without interfering with the finished home areas.
Roof Insulation
The sun hits hard on your roof and can quickly transfer the heat to other parts of the house. Insulating your loft is the easiest way to keep away heat from your house. You can use multifold insulation, which is reflective and causes the heat and sun rays to bounce away from your home, keeping it cool inside. Insulating your roof instead of the attic can be a wiser choice, especially when you have your attic full of stored items.
Types of Insulation to Consider
There are several types of insulation you can choose from when insulating your home space. Some of the most common types of insulation you can choose from include:
Blanket Insulation
Blanket insulation is the most common and easily available type of insulation. Blanket insulation is in the form of rolls and batts, and it consists of flexible fibers. Most batts and rolls are made of fiberglass, plastic fibers, or natural fibers. Rolls and batts come in widths suited for common spaces. For continuous rolls, the materials can be cut to fit your desired space. Manufacturers also attach a facing which facilitates fastening during placement of the insulation material. In places where insulation is left exposed, flame-resistant facings are available.
Concrete Block Insulation
When building a house, concrete blocks are used to lay foundations and build walls. The concrete blocks could be insulated in different ways, which include filling the cores with insulation. However, this form of insulation is not very effective in energy saving since the parts of the wall without the insulation will still conduct heat.
Installing insulation over the surface of the blocks on the interior and exterior of the foundation has proven to be a more effective form of insulation. Placing your insulation on the exterior helps contain the thermal mass of the concrete block in a confined space to moderate temperatures in the house. Some manufacturers place polystyrene beads in the concrete block, while others make blocks that can accommodate foam inserts.
In new homes or major renovations, you can incorporate insulation on the concrete blocks. For block walls in existing houses, insulation can be done from the inside.
Insulating Concrete Forms
Insulating concrete forms is a poured concrete wall that remains part of the wall assembly. This system is used to create high thermal-resistant walls. ICF homes often look like stick-built homes, even though they are constructed using concrete. The ICF system consists of interlocking foam insulation blocks. The foam boards are put together using plastic ties. Before concrete is poured, steel rods could be used to strengthen the walls.
Spray Foam Insulation
Spray foam can easily be used to seal gaps and leaks inside existing walls. Spray foam insulation is best for adding insulation to irregularly shaped spaces or finished areas. Liquid polyurethane is added to the wall cavity, which expands and hardens with time. If you are insulating a larger space, you should consider a pressure sprayed method of insulation. Foam spray insulation is more complicated than it seems. Therefore, it would be wise to work with an expert during all the phases of insulating your home.
Blown-In Insulation
Blown-in insulation is applied using a machine that blows paper-like material to the area that needs insulation. This form of insulation uses materials such as fiberglass, reclined cellulose material, or rock wool. These materials can fit in nearly all types of locations, making them an excellent choice for blown-in insulation.
Reflective or Radiant Barrier
The reflective barrier works differently from other forms of insulation, and R-values do not measure its effectiveness. The R-value of insulation material is its ability to resist heat flow. Standard insulation reduces heat flow to your home, while radiant insulation reflects the heat away, preventing heat gain and radiant heat transfer. This type of insulation is made using reflective barriers placed on a substrate material.
Structural Insulated Panels
Structural insulated panels are insulated structural elements used to build walls, floors, and roofs. SIPs provide uniform insulation and offer a high energy-saving rate. When installed correctly, Sips make your house more airtight, quiet, and comfortable. SIPs are designed to provide insulation for a long time effectively.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an Insulation Type
Insulation materials provide an envelope that balances indoor temperature. Insulating your home ensures that heat stays out of your house during the hot summer. The following are some insightful tips you can use to select the best home insulating materials:
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Home Design
The design and style of your home is a significant factor you need to consider when choosing an insulation material. If your house is meticulously designed, you will need an insulation material to reach all corners, like spray foam. Other forms of insulation may not be effective in such a setup because they are firm. Choosing the wrong material for insulation could leave holes that cause cool air to escape from your home.
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The Efficiency of the Material
The efficiency of the material used to insulate different areas of your home is crucial in determining how well it will work. Using an efficient material such as spray foam will assure you of long service, and you can save a lot of money on your electric bill.
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Sound Proofing Capacity
A soundproof room is ideal if you plan to use the specific space as a studio or home office. Therefore, it would be wise to choose an insulation material with soundproofing capacity. With such materials, you can insulate your home against fluctuating temperatures and noise at the same time.
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Presence of Allergens in the Insulation Materials
Insulation materials made of fiberglass and cellulose pose a significant health threat because they can cause allergic reactions for you and your family. If you, a family member, or your friends have allergic reactions, it would be wise to use an insulation material such as liquid foam that does not have irritants. After injection into your home space, liquid foam solidifies and does not produce any irritants.
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Flammability of the insulation
A fire can be a significant home hazard. Most insulation materials provide an ideal level of temperature stability to keep your house cool in the summer. However, some types of insulation are flammable. Such materials can quickly spread a fire in your home in case of an accident. It would help if you were concerned about the dangers posed by insulation on your walls, roof, and floors. Depending on the home space where you want to insulate, you should use an insulation material with a low flammability level. This helps reduce property damage and the severity of injuries in home fires.
Find an Los Angeles Insulation Contractor Near Me
Most people assume that insulation is only needed in cold weather, which is not always the case. However, it’s just as good as keeping the heat out to provide a cool atmosphere in your home. Understanding how insulation works and the different types of insulation available is crucial in ensuring you stay away from the summer heat.
The success of your home’s insulation depends on several factors, such as the choice of insulation material and how it is installed. Therefore, if you hope to keep your house cool by insulating your home, it is crucial to contact a Los Angeles insulation Expert for help. At The Insulation Experts, we provide our clients with expert guidance and services to fight off the summer heat and create a conducive home environment. You can contact us today at 310-301-1818 for all your insulation needs.
