Terri Ramsey Beavers Insulation provides a thermal barrier between the outside and the inside of your home. Keeping hot air in, and the cold air out during the winter months, and helping to keep your home fresh during the summer when the temperature outside begins to rise. Aside from improving the energy efficiency rating of your home, which can help its resale value, insulation can also save you significant money on your energy bills. So here are six of the most important areas to insulate within your home.
1. The attic
25% of all heat produced by your boiler will be lost through your roof without insulation. Hot air naturally rises, and so the attic of your home needs to be properly insulated to slow down the transfer of energy through your roof and into the surrounding air. Loft insulation also helps stop pests such as mice from entering your home and can help control damp.
2. The walls
As the single largest source of heat loss, it is surprising how many people do not think to insulate their walls. The exterior walls of your home are responsible for the loss of 35% of the heat produced by your tank or tankless heater. This heat loss can be prevented by installing cavity wall insulation into cavity walls and internal or external insulation on solid walls.
3. The floor
Floor insulation has two main functions. Firstly, it helps to slow down the transfer of heat from the ground floor of your home to the upstairs and inevitably into your attic and out of the roof. Secondly, it stops heat from dissipating into the ground through the ground floor. Approximately 25% of the heat produced by your boiler disappears through the floor – that’s the same as through the roof!
4. Crawl spaces
Crawl spaces beneath your home not only allow hot air to escape into the ground, but they are also susceptible to damp and mold, which can rot floor joists and damage structural integrity and can let in cold drafts. Insulating your crawl spaces may seem like a fiddly job, but it can dramatically reduce the amount of heat lost through your floor and will protect your home from damp. Learn more about crawl space insulation.
5. Pipes
As the hot water from your boiler travels through the pipework in your home, a lot of its heat is lost before it reaches its final destination. Insulating your pipework can help to stop energy loss and will also protect you against frozen pipes, which can burst, causing major leaks and damage.
6. Windows
Last but not least, we come to the windows of your home. Windows allow approximately 10% of your home’s heat to dissipate into the outside and let in cold drafts. Double-glazing is the best way to insulate your windows, but it can also be beneficial to invest in heavy set curtains, which also provide an insulative barrier.
So there you have it – six of the most important areas of your home to insulate, do you know if your home is properly insulated?
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