Heating and cooling typically use between 50 to 70% of the typical American’s annual energy budget. This is why good insulation in your home is so essential. Air leaks and poor insulation can waste a lot of energy and rack up massive bills. With energy being limited in this country, those bills will only get higher in the future.
So how exactly does insulation help? Heat always flows from warm areas to cool areas. This means that in the winter, it moves from your living area to unheated basements, attics or outdoors. In the summer, it moves from the exterior to the interior of your home. Insulation works to slow this exchange. There is a variety of products you can use such as blown, rolled, rigid or foam insulation. Each has its merits, so do your homework before choosing the right insulation for your home.
Heat is transferred indoors or outdoors in three ways. The first is conduction, which is the transfer of heat through the materials of your home. Insulation has low conductivity, so it will slow this process. The second way heat is lost is through convection. This is the movement of heat through the air – in this case, the voids in your walls, attic or basement. The right insulation stops convection completely. The third type is reflective insulation which reduces the amounts of heat transferred through the process of radiation. Sometimes this can be installed in an attic as a radiant heat barrier, but it can also be used in walls and floors.
What does this mean for your house? Besides using less energy and saving money, it also makes your home more comfortable. Your heating and cooling systems will be better able to maintain constant temperatures throughout the living areas. Because there is a barrier between your walls, ceilings, floors and the outdoor air, they will stay cooler in the summertime and warmer in the winter. The experts at The Cooling Company suggest that your HVAC system will work less and last longer because it won’t be under so much pressure to maintain the right temperature.
