As a homeowner, you probably get bombarded all the time with tips on how to maintain your home correctly. It can be confusing and overwhelming, but we want to talk specifically about an underrated home maintenance topic:attic insulation.
Home insulation is a given for most homes, but attic insulation plays a huge role in air quality control and stabilizing your energy bill. We’ll explain below why this step is crucial and how Advantage Construction can help with your roofing needs.
Why Is Attic Insulation So Important?
Insulating your home in general is a given in home maintenance and improving air quality. However, it’s also important to insulate and seal your attic. After all, your attic is another barrier where air can escape and penetrate your home.
Maintaining a Comfortable Home Temperature
Without proper attic insulation, it can be harder to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Attic insulation helps to pad your home against warm and cold temperatures, allowing your furnace and air conditioning to run well. Without such air quality protections, you risk either system breaking down, costing you money and general comfort during summer or winter.
Heat flows from hot to cold, so upstairs rooms may most experience heat displacement. However, a properly insulated attic can trap hot air underneath your roof, keeping all rooms warm and cozy.
Keeping a Stable Energy Bill
Keeping your home heating and cooling systems in order also ensures your energy bill remains affordable. Cranking up the heat or air conditioning can spike your energy bill because an uninsulated attic allows air to escape outside. With a properly sealed and insulated attic, you can keep warm or cool air inside and not need to give your thermostat a workout and inflate your energy bill.
Reduces Energy Use
If you use your furnace and air-conditioning at a general rate, it does not require more power-plant-produced energy and thus can reduce pollution going into the environment. Many modern insulation tools use recycled materials too. Reducing your energy use may be a small benefit for you, but it is also a good win for your community.
Prevent Ice Dams and Icicles
Ice dams are a sign of a problem with attic insulation. Icicles form on the eaves of a building where the escaping hot air causes the snow or ice on the roof to melt. The cold air outside causes those drips to freeze, forming long stalactites of ice hanging in rows.
If icicles and ice dams remain small and sporadic, they don’t cause a huge problem. However, when they form in long rows and grow large and wide, they could damage your eaves by dragging them down. Or they might fall and cause further damage to the area below. Either way you look at it, if large icicles and ice dams begin to form along your eaves, it may be a sign to inspect your attic.
Prevent Mold from Forming
If too much moisture gathers at the edges of your attic, you could get mold, allowing a condensation environment to form. Prevention is critical if your attic has wood in it, which is susceptible to wood rot, or cement, which can erode over time from water vapor.
Like icicles, a little mold is not terrible. But, if it grows, such a condensation environment could pose health problems to your home. Some molds have high levels of mycotoxins, which can lead to neurological problems. A condensation environment is especially dangerous in a house where you spend much of your time breathing in harmful toxins. Attic insulation is not susceptible to water vapor, so it should keep your attic from becoming a condensation environment.
Provide Better Air Quality
Similar to preventing air from leaving your home, good attic insulation also keeps pollutants like smoke, radon, dirt, and others from getting into your home, giving you better air quality. So, even if you don’t live in an area with particularly polluted air, keeping up the air quality in your home with proper attic insulation is still a good idea.
Keep Out Pests
Pests can get inside your home without proper sealing and insulation. They can also create nests inside your insulation, which can pose health hazards if there is a lot of waste or dead animals. If you don’t have insulation, or even if your insulation is old, it’s a good idea to get it inspected if any pests have made their home inside of yours.
Provides Noise Reduction
Quality attic insulation should also pad your home against outside noise. Likewise, noise from within your own home becomes reduced with proper insulation.
Adds a Thermal Barrier and Fire Protection to Your Home
Some insulation types, like fiberglass, protect from fire, cold temperatures, and pollution while also improving your air quality. That’s not to say your home is invincible against fire. Fire protection simply means that it will not catch fire as easily. You can purchase other fireproof barriers on top of your insulation for extra peace of mind.
Plus, you’ll receive insulation according to your climate zone, so your home can protect the best against average temperatures.
Extends Your Roof’s Longevity
By simply taking care of your roof, you’re preventing any significant disasters related to energy bills, busted furnaces or air-conditioning, and needing to replace your roof. Without any major issues, your roof should last as long as your home structure.
Adds Value to Your Home
If you choose to sell your home in the future, adding proper attic insulation adds tremendous value. It means that you, and any future owners, won’t have to deal with fluctuating home temperatures and energy bills.
Similarly, the attic can also become an extra room. Add some spray foam attic insulation, and you have another comfortable room that can become whatever you need. Future owners may delight in finding another cozy living space above the house.
Prevents Frozen Pipes
You may worry about frozen pipes if freezing temperatures are typical in winter. Luckily, a properly insulated attic can trap heat in your home and keep your pipes warm, and no other steps are necessary to prevent freezing.
Turn to Advantage Construction for Your Attic Insulation Needs
Whatever your attic insulation needs, Advantage Construction can help you choose the best insulation type for your home to give you the best air quality. We will inspect your home, discuss your needs, and hook you up with the best protection for you and your family. Contact us today for a free quote, so we can help make sure your attic insulation is in its best condition.
