Insulation keeps your home warm and cozy in winter, cool in summer, and reduces your energy bills. It can also be used to absorb sound and create a quieter living environment.
Poor insulation and air sealing can lead to high energy bills, condensation problems, and uncomfortable temperatures. New insulation and proper air sealing can make a big difference.
Reduces Heat Flow
Insulation slows the flow of heat, decreasing your heating and cooling costs. Insulation works by blocking the flow of air through gaps or cracks, stopping hot air from escaping and cold air from entering your home. Insulation has a low lambda value, which means it’s an excellent barrier to heat transfer in three different ways: conduction, convection and radiation. Conduction is when a solid conducts heat, such as when the metal in your seatbelt buckle warms up from contact with your skin. Convection is when air moves from areas of higher heat to cooler areas, like when a warm room’s air rises through your ceiling into the cool outside air. Radiation is when light or hot particles heat objects they touch. Insulation can reduce the transfer of these rays, too, which will make things in your house feel cooler or less humid.
Humidity can cause issues, such as mold and mildew, that can leave you feeling itchy and with a runny nose. Insulation keeps the humidity level in your home consistent, reducing the likelihood of these irritants and improving your family’s comfort.
By reducing energy consumption, insulation can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other sources of energy. By preventing heat from leaving or entering your home, insulation helps your HVAC system work more efficiently without burning up fossil fuels.
Reduces Temperature Changes
Heat loss is a problem that can lead to higher heating and cooling bills, comfort issues (such as uneven temperatures) and condensation, mould and water damage. Insulation helps prevent heat loss by slowing the transfer of energy, and it’s a great way to improve the overall comfort of your home.
Like the feathers in your down jacket, insulation fills millions of tiny air pockets that create a barrier between the cold outside and the warm inside. This slows down the transfer of heat, which reduces the need to crank up your heater in winter and the need to run the air conditioning in summer.
Insulation and proper air sealing help keep humidity low within your home, which in turn reduces the risk of condensation and mold spores. This can save your walls, ceilings, carpets and furniture from moisture damage and also reduce the irritation that humid conditions can cause such as a runny nose or itchy eyes.
A well-insulated home can also prevent outdoor pollutants and allergens such as dust, pollen and radon gas from entering your living space. This can improve your family’s breathing, prevent allergy symptoms such as a dry throat or runny nose and help to improve your general health and wellbeing. In addition, insulation and air sealing help prevent snoring and external noise from disturbing your sleep patterns.
Reduces Noise Transmission
Insulation can reduce the amount of noise that travels from one room to another, which is a big comfort improvement for many homeowners. This is especially important if you live on a busy road, have noisy neighbors or kids that like to play video games in their rooms, or just want some peace and quiet after work.
Spray foam insulation and fiberglass batting are excellent options for reducing sound transmission. The thicker materials of these types of insulation help to dampen noises and absorb them, making it much easier to relax in your own home.
Another way that insulation reduces noise is by preventing it from travelling through ductwork in homes. This is common in homes with ducted heating and cooling systems. If a lot of noise is coming from your ductwork, insulating it can greatly improve your comfort and make your home quieter overall.
Insulation in your attic, walls and around the doors of your home can also reduce air flow and keep hot or cold air from seeping into areas where you do not want it to go. This can prevent mold, mildew and allergens from growing in your home, which makes for a more comfortable, healthy environment for you and your family to enjoy. It can also prevent dust, dirt and other pollutants from entering your living spaces, which can cause respiratory issues or itchy eyes and noses.
Reduces Energy Bills
Whether your home is old or new, insulation reduces energy bills and improves comfort. Insulation helps block passages that allow conditioned air to escape and unconditioned air to infiltrate your home, thus making it more cost-efficient to run your HVAC system all year long.
In fact, studies show that homes without proper insulation may spend up to 15% more than they need to on heating and cooling.* That’s a lot of money that could be going toward something else. In addition, gaps in insulation can cause heating and cooling systems to work harder than they need to, which leads to unnecessary wear and tear and shorter equipment lifespans.
Adding and replacing insulation is one of the best investments you can make to help lower your energy bills, cut greenhouse gas emissions and become less dependent on fossil fuels for power. It’s also a relatively inexpensive project that pays for itself in no time at all in older houses and is a must in new construction and major renovations.