A cold home is rarely a comfortable home, especially during the winter months. You want your home to be a warm, relaxing environment where you can escape from the outdoor freeze. Unfortunately, insufficient insulation may cause you to choose between comfort or affordable energy bills. Implementing the right insulation in the winter can go a long way toward increasing your comfort, lowering your energy expenses, and even increasing the value of your building! There are many important considerations involved with winter insulation. Understanding the best steps to take can help to provide optimal insulation for your building. Here at Penguin Insulation, we offer many services that are designed to enhance the level of comfort within your home, while simultaneously reducing your expenses. Here are some things you should be aware of when it comes to insulating your home in the winter.
The Importance of Window Insulation
A great deal of heat escapes through windows that aren’t properly insulated. Some studies have shown that insufficiently insulated windows let as much heat escape as if you left a single window open all the time. This is why it is incredibly important to invest in insulation for the windows of your building. Additionally, windows are likely in every room of your home. This means that if they aren’t insulated properly, they are allowing heat to escape from every room of your home. This can make it incredibly difficult to maintain a comfortable environment within your building.
When you first begin to insulate your windows, it will be valuable to know how to tell which windows need better insulation, as well as where gaps and drafts are located. If your home feels cold, despite the heater being on, your home probably has insufficient insulation. Drafty windows are a common culprit. The same thing applies to excessively high energy bills. However, you can tell if it is specifically the windows that need insulation if the air near the windows is colder than in other parts of the building. Windows that are difficult to open or close, panes that rattle in the wind, and rustling curtains are all indications that a window needs better insulation.
Tips for Insulating Windows
There are many ways to effectively insulate windows. First and foremost, all drafts will need to be sealed using caulking, weather strips, draft stoppers, or other methods. Once these drafts are sealed, you can look into adding insulation to your windows. Window insulation film is a cheap, effective way to increase the level of insulation of a window. This method involves using a plastic film over the window to prevent energy from escaping. A layer of bubble wrap is another effective, and cheap, DIY method to improve the insulation of your windows.
These two methods can actually be used in conjunction, though the bubble wrap will have to be in place prior to applying the window insulation film. There are many other methods that can help improve the insulation of your home. These methods include thermal curtains, storm shutters, and many other solutions. Any steps that you take to improve your insulation will likely reduce your overall energy expenses.
Insulate your Attic
It is commonly known that heat rises. For this reason, it is incredibly important to insulate the attic of your building. Heat will inevitably attempt to escape through this avenue. Many people overlook the attic when they consider the insulation for their home, but this is a big mistake. It is necessary to make sure that the walls, roof, floor, and crawlspaces in your attic are effectively insulated to provide superior protection for your home.
There are many different methods for insulation that can be implemented in the attic area. Blow-in insulation is often used to insulate the open spaces in the wall of an attic area. Spray-foam is another commonly used technique for insulating the attic of a building. Whatever method you choose, it is incredibly important to ensure that your attic is effectively insulated in preparation for the winter months.
Important Considerations for Insulation in the Winter
One of the most important things to remember when you are preparing your home for winter is to insulate the pipes. Failure to do so can allow the pipes to freeze and, ultimately, burst. This can result in incredibly expensive water damage to your building. It is important to insulate both internal and external pipes to ensure that they remain at a safe temperature.
Garages are another commonly overlooked place in the home that can lead to significant energy loss. Chances are that your garage feels much colder than the other areas of your home. This can cause energy to be lost from your home. This is even more prevalent if you haven’t insulated the door between the garage and your house. There are options for insulating the garage door, walls, and more to ensure that your home can remain as comfortable as possible. This can also be incredibly useful if you spend significant amounts of time in your garage. It can make it a much more comfortable environment.
Remember that the insulation of your exterior walls will have a significant impact on the amount of heat that is allowed to escape from your home. It is also important to keep in mind that old insulation will eventually have to be replaced in order to remain effective, so it can be valuable to have old insulation replaced when you invest in further insulation for your home.
Contact our Experts!
Winter can be a difficult time for homeowners, as it can cause energy expenses to skyrocket, as well as a home to remain at an uncomfortable temperature. Many of these issues can be avoided with proper preparation and superior insulation. Here at Penguin Insulation, we offer many services that will help to improve the overall insulation of your building, which can be beneficial both in the extremely hot and cold months. To learn more about obtaining the right insulation for your home, contact our experts at Penguin Insulation today!