With winter approaching, it’s time to take a look at your home’s insulation. Proper insulation helps keep your home warm and prevents skyrocketing energy bills.
Insulation is easy enough for homeowners to do themselves. However, some jobs may require a professional.
Insulation can be a messy job, so it is important to wear the proper safety equipment.
1. Insulate Your Attic
Installing insulation in your attic is one of the most effective ways to cut energy bills and make your home more comfortable. It’s a project that can be accomplished without hiring a contractor, and it’s typically the most cost-effective.
Before installing your insulation, make sure that your attic is free of any boxes or other items. Those materials can compress the insulation and reduce its insulating capabilities.
Start at one of the walls and work toward the center of your attic floor or attic entryway, making sure that the insulation covers the joists completely and evenly. Be careful not to compress the material, and allow it to overlap the top plate of the exterior ceiling. Cut each strip to the proper length.
Be aware that if you have a recessed light fixture in your attic, it is important to keep the insulation 3 inches away from these fixtures. The intense heat produced by these fixtures could ignite the insulation and cause a house fire. Identify whether your recessed lights are IC-rated or non-IC-rated to prevent this from happening.
2. Insulate Your Walls
Insulating your walls is an excellent way to increase your home’s energy efficiency and comfort levels. Depending on the existing condition of your walls, this can be a do-it-yourself project or one that requires a professional contractor.
To get started, you’ll need to remove any drywall and expose the wall studs before installing insulation. Cover rooms that won’t be used during the installation with plastic sheeting to avoid contaminating them. If the studs already have insulation, it should be removed, placed in contractor bags and properly disposed of. Nails and screws that are along the studs should be removed and sealed with caulk.
If your studs are exposed, fiberglass batt insulation is simple and inexpensive to install yourself. It won’t provide as tight of an air seal as blow-in cellulose or expanding foam insulation, however.
3. Insulate Your Floors
Insulating a floor is an essential DIY home insulation project that can make your home feel much warmer. Especially for older houses, floor insulation can stop draughts and help reduce damp.
Whether your house has suspended timber floors that are nailed to joists, or solid concrete floors, you can use DIY home insulation products to insulate them. It’s fairly easy and quick to do, but you will need to know what type of floor construction your house has, as different materials work better for each kind.
Suspended floors can be insulated by installing mineral wool or fibre glass insulation between the joists. This can be done from below in a crawl space or from above by lifting up floor boards. Solid concrete floors can be insulated with a layer of foam insulation. Both are available from most DIY stores and can be easily installed without the need for a professional contractor. For those who receive benefits, you may be eligible for free and discounted DIY floor insulation under the Energy Company Obligation scheme. To find out more visit the Simple Energy Advice website.
4. Insulate Your Windows
During the winter, heat can easily leak out of uninsulated windows. This can cause your heater to work overtime, costing you money on your energy bills. Thankfully, there are some easy solutions for this problem.
One quick, inexpensive solution is to buy self-adhesive weather sealing strips. These can be cut to size and positioned around your window frames. This is a temporary solution, and will need to be removed when you open your window, but it can be very effective.
Another option is to use expanding spray foam. You can find these at any hardware store, and they are easy to apply. Just be sure to test a small area first, as it may take a bit of time for the foam to expand.
Lastly, you can also try using insulating curtains. These can be purchased for under $20, and will keep your windows insulated throughout the winter. This is especially useful for older homes, or if you live in an area with colder temperatures. However, it isn’t as effective as a wall insulation system.
5. Insulate Your Doors
Doorways account for 20% of the heat lost in a home, so it’s important to properly insulate them. The good news is, it’s a relatively easy DIY project to do!
First, you’ll need to examine your doors. You’ll want to make sure there is no damage and that they are properly installed. It’s also a good idea to check that the caulking and weatherproofing hasn’t deteriorated. If you’re experiencing draughts or heat loss through your doors, you can try a few different solutions. One of the simplest and most cost effective is to use self-adhesive weatherproofing strips to seal any gaps around your doors.
This will help to keep the warm air in and the cold air out, which will save you money on your energy bills. Another great option is to use a draft guard, which is basically a fabric tube that you can buy or, if you’re handy enough, you can stitch yourself. It’s a great cold-weather life hack that will prevent those drafty gaps from letting in the cold air and causing your energy bills to skyrocket this winter!