Have You Checked Your Attic Insulation Lately?

Everyone knows that insulation is a key ingredient to making a home comfortable and energy-efficient. I can still remember the lake house my parents rented in the off-season because it was the most economical thing they could find. The advertisement had stated, “winterized.” It took only that very first icy wind blowing in off the lake to let us know we were in for a long cold winter. If the house had any insulation at all, it had long since lost usefulness.

The purpose of insulation is of course to impede the transferance of outside and inside air. In other words, you want your heated air to stay inside the walls of your home and keep you warm and you want to keep the cold outside air right where it belongs, outside. Or when the thermometer starts edging toward that ninety and hundred degree mark, you want that hot air kept outside and your cool, comfortable, conditioned air inside where you need it. Insulation is the most effective remedy for this problem.

It only makes since therefore, that the most critical places for insulation is within the exterior walls, the ceiling or roof-deck and beneath the floor, if you happen to live in a home with a pier and beam type foundation. And common since will tell you that the best insulation will be the one that does the best job of keeping the outside air and the inside air from trading places.

Now out of all the places deemed necessary to insulate, there is one which is by far the most important. Yes, you guessed it, “the attic.” And you most likely, already know or have figured out why this is the case. You’re right, the heated air inside rises to the ceiling, into the attic and then outside, if there is nothing there to stop it.

This is exactly why a trip into your attic can be a real money-saver for many home-owners. The older the home, the more likely you are to need an up-grade in your insulation. The traditional fiberglass or cellulose, at least twelve inches, will help a great deal. However, if you want to see an amazing difference, not only in the comfort of your home, but also in your average monthly utility bill, polyurethane spray foam insulation is definitely the way to go.

Polyurethane foam is proven to be the most energy-efficient type of insulation on the market today. It is air-tight and because it is installed against the underside of the roof-deck rather than the cieling, that outside air really does stay out.

So, the decision is yours, leave that attic door tightly closed and pretend that everything is fine or take that long over look. You will be happy you did.