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Home Insulation And HVAC - Are you tired of inconsistency in your home temperature?
If your home gets extremely cold in winters and hot in summers, it is not the fault of your HVAC system. It happens due to poor insulation arrangement or installation. Most people do not know, but there is a close relation between home insulation and HVAC.
Blaming your HVAC insulation for temperature inconsistency in your house is not at all true and will certainly not help you with the solution.
What you need is to improve your home insulation if you want to save energy and improve HVAC efficiency. HVAC efficiency is reported to be enhanced with the accurate amount of well-installed insulation.
Let’s Read all about home insulation and HVAC.
Home Insulation And HVAC | Saving Energy With Better Home Insulation
It is widely known that an HVAC system helps maintain your home temperature but the efficiency of an HVAC system is solely dependent on the insulation of your home.
The HVAC system has to work hard and over time with inappropriately insulated homes. However, the efficiency of the HVAC system doubles up with properly insulated homes.
An energy-efficient HVAC system matched up with good home insulation will give you pretty amazing energy savings with reduced energy bills.
The efficiency of your HVAC system is also significantly affected by its size; for example, a small HVAC system is ideal for adequately insulated homes with minimum air escape. Likewise, poorly insulated homes require a bigger HVAC system because a smaller system will not be able to work efficiently due to heat and cold escapes.
To understand the function and efficiency level of HVAC insulation, you first need to realize the importance of properly insulated homes. It is all about heat loss and heat gain.
Why Properly Installed Insulation Is Important? Home Insulation And HVAC
So, what does insulation do?
- Home insulation acts as a blanket to keep warm air inside your home during winters and out during the summers. If you don’t have enough insulation or it is not installed correctly, you could be wasting money on heating and cooling bills.
- Sometimes even if you have insulation, it may have gaps that make it less effective. If possible, do an inspection of insulation in your home, especially in your attic.
- Gaps usually occur around pipes and an electric wire, so give close attention to those areas. Often when air escapes, it leaves dirt on insulation. If you see an area that looks dirty, it is a good sign that you have a gap that you need to fix.
If necessary, take care of the gap with filler materials such as expanding foam and then cover it back so that the insulation fits together well.
If you find a mark that needs some additional insulation cut a piece to fit and slide in without blowing it up? Bunched-up insulation is not very effectual so try to cut any filled pieces to be precisely the size you need.
When it comes to attic insulation installation, be careful not to put it anywhere that could cause a problem, such as too close to a hot chimney. Also, some recessed lights, if covered with insulation, can get hot and cause an electrical shock or fire. If you are doubtful about how to install your insulation correctly, check with an HVAC technician. unsure
Tips For Saving Energy | Home Insulation And HVAC
Here are few tips for saving energy with better home insulation:
Check The Gaps In Your Home Doors
Doors bottoms are the best place for heat or cold to escape the room. Use door draught stoppers to prevent heat or cold loss.
Also, check your wooden doors for small holes because these areas, though they look petty, can cause a tremendous amount of heat loss.
Proper Attic Insulation | Home Insulation And HVAC
Without the best attic insulation system in place, you cannot save energy and money because a massive amount of heat escapes through the attic area. For attic insulation, you can either use loose-fill or batt insulation based on your requirements.
However, no insulation type will work efficiently if your attic is not air-sealed. For this purpose, you can use a firmly constructed box to envelop fan housings in your home attic area and other casing breaches such as soffits.
In the case of a tight budget, you can use loose-fill insulation, which gives more coverage and is inexpensive compared to batt insulation.
If you want to do attic insulation work by yourself, the option of batt insulation is better because you can place it amid hoists in a zigzag pattern.
Placement Of Plants Outside Your Home
The role of plant placement is also significant in better home insulation and HVAC because the natural shade is required for the balancing of air temperature around your home.
Check Your Windows | Home Insulation And HVAC
Windows are one of the essential features of your house from the decorative perspective and an insulation angle as well. You need to check the window frames if you want to cut your energy bills. According to the US energy department, windows cause 25% to 30% of home heating and cooling energy usage.
You can improve the efficiency of your home HVAC insulation with well-insulated windows because less air will leak out of your home. Consequently, your home’s HVAC system will not have to work hard to keep your home cool in the summers.
You have two options when it is the question of home insulation, either to upgrade your current windows or to replace them. If your windows are in nice condition, there is no need to replace them.
- You need to keep a close and constant check on the frames of your windows; for example, if your wooden framed windows are damaged, you need to correct the damages by filling them with caulking.
- In the case of aluminum windows, put in draught excluders for improved home insulation. However, the option of using window film to the interior of the windows is also useful as it minimizes the entrance of light into your home via windows.
If the insulation of all your home’s windows is not possible, you should then specifically work on the insulation of the windows facing south.
How to select windows?
Here are few points by following which you can choose the best windows for your home:
- Check the energy performance of the windows you selected by considering whole-unit U-factors and SHGCs. This will give you an accurate performance picture.
- If you live in a colder area, go for gas-filled windows, which help diminish heat with their less-e coatings. However, if you live in a warm area, windows with coating are more suitable for your home.
- Do not forget to consider ENERGY STAR and other energy labels when selecting windows.
Insulate Your Home Walls Properly
It is advised to hire an HVAC professional for proper wall insulation as it is a very delicate job.
Wall insulation will be done differently in the case of wood-frame walls and concrete brick casing walls. Not to forget, wall insulation is something you need to keep on checking at least after every 6 months because it needs repairs frequently.
Insulate The Basement Of Your Home Properly
The basement area is one of the areas that you often ignore, which is your biggest mistake. Before going for wall or ceiling insulation, you need to make sure that your basement insulation is suitably installed.
Proper Selection Of Insulation Types
There are quite different types of insulations to choose from, such as
- Blown-in insulation
- Spray foam insulation
- Insulation rolls
- Foam board insulation
If you are looking for windows or door insulation, spray foam insulation is suitable for you. It also is useful for basement area insulation.
Blown-in insulation is ideal for you if you want attic insulation or the insulation of cavities in the walls. This is because these areas are not easily reachable. You can also go for insulation rolls as they are best for attic and floor insulation because these areas require longer runs.
However, for ceilings, floors, and walls insulation, batts is also an appropriate option. If you want firm insulation for the exterior areas of your home, foam board insulation is an ideal option because it is composed of polystyrene. This type of insulation can also go well with all parts of a home.
Closing Words | Saving Energy
Saving energy with better home insulation is the dream of every homeowner. Complaining of a poor HVAC system is not the solution of inconsistence home temperature.
If you want to reduce heat in summers and enjoy warmth in winters from the sun, you must keep a close eye on your home’s insulation.
The areas of your home that need consistent check are windows, doors, walls, attic, basement, ceiling, and flooring. In addition to this, the placement of plants also matters a lot in providing natural shade to your home.
The selection of windows is something you need to do very carefully because the wrong selection of window panels can adversely affect the entire insulation of your home. Resultantly the HVAC system has to work hard.
So if you want to enjoy the comfort of your home all year, you need to first install your insulation system properly, as well-insulated homes help to maximize the efficiency of the HVAC system!
Home Insulation And HVAC
