Archive for the ‘Attic insulation’ Category
Want to save money? Help the environment? Stay more comfortable in your home?
We were confused. There’s been a good amount of discussion lately about alternative insulation methods and conserving energy. After all the hype and conflicting stories, I think we finally figured things out.
Radiant barrier is another name for attic insulation, a product that should be installed in your attic. The purpose of the product is to block the flow of radiant heat from one place to another. Namely, from your cozy warm home up through your attic into the big open outdoors. Paying attention now?
Every day, each minute of the winter months, you’re losing expensive air up through your attic. Do you know how easy it is to stop? Do
you know how easy it is to save some money for as long as you own your home by simply investing now in a little radiant barrier attic insulation?
When the heated air from your living room (for example) rises, it meets your regular mass insulation. That stuff slows it down a little, until the insulation absorbs all it can hold. Then the heated air just keeps rising and heads on out of your attic. Have you ever noticed how, after a hard snow, some homeowners roofs are pretty clean of snow? That’s because the roof is so warm from all that escaping heated air that the snow melts quickly. That’s bad.
When you lay the radiant barrier type of attic insulation – made from 99% aluminum sandwiched over a thin, flexible, polyester woven scrim – down over the rafters in your roof, it effectively acts like a barrier to rising radiant heat, forcing it back into the living space below. It’s lightweight, flexible, and easy to install. All you need is a box cutter knife.
The result of using radiant barrier is a warm home, more consistent thermostat setting, and money saved.
Re-insulation is a term often used to describe the process of increasing the level of insulation in a home or building. Re-insulation is a way to save money on existing buildings by improving the existing insulation value, which may have been top-of-class at time of construction years prior. The first requirements were developed in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and many advancements have been made since then. It’s like a retrofit, and insulation contractors, roofing contractors, or HVAC specialists are all good places to start looking.
- Consider these statistics, based on US Department of Energy reports and Claritas studies:
- Over 80 million homes are estimated to be under insulated in the USA today.
- Buildings are the number one user of energy – more than industry and more than transportation.
- Less than 1% of the re-insulation opportunity is estimated to be captured today.
- Homeowners are willing to spend money on products and services that save them money.
- Saving money and energy is on everyone’s mind these days, and attic insulation offers the best bang for your buck.
If you’re looking at improving the efficiency of your existing attic insulation and save money on your energy bills, you may want to look at a reflective foil product. Particularly if traditional pink fiberglass batting doesn’t appeal to you (it’s kind of itchy, and can be irritating to lungs if breathed in), a good alternative may be reflective foil.
Attic insulation is meant to slow down or stop the flow of air from one space to another. This is different than creating a vacuum, as some ventilation is necessary to avoid condensation when air temperatures change. A professional, perhaps someone from your electric company or REC, can advise you as to whether additional attic insulation would all you to save money and add life to your HVAC system.
Foil insulation may be new when compared to fiberglass insulation, but that doesn’t mean that it is better. Foil insulation carries many more benefits.
The concept behind foil insulation has been around for years, but few people know the real benefits from it and still use fiberglass to insulate their homes, offices, garages, and any other place that they want to stay warm … but why?
Fiberglass insulation has been around since the late 1800’s; that is what people are used to and comfortable with. There are a couple 
of different kinds of fiberglass to choose from – rolled insulation (or batt insulation), and loose fill-blow insulation. Which one to choose depends on where you want it used. Typically loose fill-blow insulation is used in attics, while the rolled insulation is used for the rest of your home.
However, this type of insulation also carries some risks to the installer. It tends to be made from bits of glass, limestone and other harmful materials if inhaled or touched. It is recommended that you use heavy gloves and a breathing mask when installing it. If there were a different, better, safer way of insulating, wouldn’t you try it?
There are three types of heat transferring agents – convection, conduction and radiant, with radiant being the primary method. Fiberglass insulation, along with other types of insulation, reduces convection and conduction, but does little for radiant heat. These types of insulations will eventually let air in and out, causing your energy bills to go up. Yet what if I told you that you could reduce your heating and cooling bills, and save on energy use? Would you be interested? I’m sure you are.
Foil insulation, or a radiant barrier, holds its roots in aluminum foil (yes, the same foil we use around the house and in the kitchen), but they have their differences. Regular aluminum foil is thin, tears easily and is mixed with other alloys that will oxidize over time. Foil insulation contains more aluminum for better reflectivity and is coated for better durability and corrosion resistance. It also has a mesh interior to give it a bit of weight for easier handling. This type of insulation works by deflecting the radiant heat, keeping the cooler air in during the summer and the warm air in during the winter. All of this will cause your heating and cooling bills to be lower than ever before.
Now you know the basic differences between foil insulation and fiberglass. So next time you have to choose what kind of insulation to use, which kind of insulation will you go with?
It’s that time of year again, when the sun’s heat comes beating down and my air conditioner works 24/7. I’m researching options to help make my HVAC run more efficiently. One product I’m interested in is called radiant barrier, a type of attic insulation. Here’s a little video that explains some about how all that heat gets into your house to start with: