Do an Insulation Assessment for Fall

Insulation is the barricade that protects your home, keeping the warm air out during the summer and the warm air in during the winter. Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t know exactly how insulation works and assume incorrectly that it seals a home against the elements. Actually, what insulation does is restrict the movement of air. 

There are different types of insulation, and each one is labeled with an R-value. All this value does is show the amount of resistance to heat movement. The higher the number, the more resistant to heat movement. The R-value is really just a base number, though, because how the insulation is installed and where it is installed can lower this number.

The different types of insulation include:

• Loose fill and blown-in.
• Foam board and rigid foam.
• Batts and rolls.
• Reflective.
• Spray foam.

Some of these insulation materials, such as batts and rolls, are fairly easy to work with and are ideal for DIY insulating projects in areas such as the attic. Other types, such as spray foam, require special equipment and are best left to the professionals.

Although getting a comprehensive energy audit is a good way to determine if you need additional insulation and where it should go, you can make that determination yourself by going over your heating and cooling bills. If they’re higher than what you would like, you could probably use more insulation. Pay special attention to your attic. If you’ve done quite a bit of weatherizing in the past years and wonder if any area has been left unattended, take a look at your garage. This space, too, should be insulated.

But before you tackle your projects, seal all the air leaks that you can find in your home. Insulation that’s installed over spots where air infiltrates won’t do the job you expect. Further, your insulation could start deteriorating.

For answers to your questions about home insulation, contact the professionals at Mathews CCAC. We serve homeowners throughout Corpus Christi.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about home insulation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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