Insulating Your Home Saves Energy
Insulating your loft will result in significant energy savings,
and therefore you can expect to reduce your energy costs
dramatically as a result. A huge amount of heat leaks out of your
roof if the loft is not insulated, around 30% of heat that you have
already paid for.
Loft Insulation is relatively easy to do. If your loft is not
already insulated, the cost should be about $275 for the insulation
material. Once installed however, you'll save approximately $200 per
year in reduced heating costs. Therefore, only 18 months later, the
cost of the project has paid for itself in lower energy bills, and
every year after that, you'll be saving a significant amount of
money on heating costs.
It is recommended that the minimum thickness of Loft Insulation
should be 200mm. Mineral Fibre or Fibreglass matting comes in rolls
of either 100mm or 200mm thick, the thinner 100mm version being used
to lay over existing, older, and therefore usually thinner
insulation. This type of insulation is most often used by homeowners
confident enough to undertake the work themselves. However, great
care should be taken, and the issue of whether to install yourself
or hire a qualified fitter is discussed below. An alternative is
loose-fill loft insulation, which is used where the spacing between
joists is irregular, or in places where it is difficult to reach to
install roll-based insulation.
In both cases, the job of installation may not be quite as easy
as first thought. The depth between joists is often lower than the
recommended depth of insulation, and some initial preparatory work
will therefore have to be completed. This is often achieved by
raising the height of the joists with additional timber to the
required depth. It's quite a precarious position up there in the
loft, and very easy to overbalance. Joists are very narrow to walk
on, in fact, you shouldn't attempt to walk on a single joist at all,
but instead cover the area in boards resting on the joists on all
four sides, to distribute your weight more evenly. Of course,
ladders can be quite dangerous, particularly in the often small and
dimly-lit conditions of a loft.
There are also hazards in laying the insulation itself, For
instance, Mineral Wool insulation can irritate your eyes and throat,
and protective clothing should be worn at all times to avoid contact
with the skin. Considering the above, I would recommend using a
professional to do the work for you. You will incur additional
expense, but when you consider the considerable savings you'll be
making on your heating bills, it's well worth getting the job done
properly and safely. And anyway, it's all about how to save energy,
right? If you can afford to, get someone else to do it!
Solid Wall Insulation - Internal Insulation
Plaster board laminate insulation is up to 90mm thick, and is fixed
directly to the internal wall. Alternatively, you can fix wooden
battens to the wall, infill the gaps between them with insulating
material, and then plasterboard the whole construction over the top.
Both these Solid Wall Insulation methods are likely to be costly
however, and are fairly large projects inevitably leading to some
disruption in the living area. Instead, flexible internal linings
are easier to install, almost like hanging wallpaper. They are
substantially thinner and can be painted, wallpapered or even tiled
over afterwards.
Solid Wall Insulation - External Insulation
External wall insulation should be between 50mm and 100mm thick, and
is usually applied in cases of severe heat loss, and where the
application of an exterior rendering material may improve the
appearance of a damaged wall. The cost of exterior wall insulation
is around $1800 for a 3 bedroomed, semi-detached house, but this
would save you about $290 to $350 per year in heating costs. You
should also consider that a typical radiator loses 70% of the heat
it produces through the wall behind it. Fitting heat-keeping
radiator panels will save a great deal of heat produced, and apart
from the drop in costs, the room will warm up much quicker.
Cavity Wall Insulation
If your house was built after 1930, and the thickness of your walls
is at least 26.5cm thick (10.5 inches in old money), it's likely
that you have cavity walls. However, this can be checked by a local
cavity wall insulation installer. If you do have cavity walls, the
procedure is very simple. The insulation material is injected into
the walls from outside, so there won't be any mess to clear up
afterwards, and it will only take about 3 hours to insulate an
average-sized, 3 bedroom semi-detached house. Furthermore, if you
hire a professional to do the work for you, it should be guaranteed
for 25 years. It's a relatively easy job, and you'll notice the
benefits all year round, for instance, even temperatures around the
house, less condensation, and moderate room temperatures during a
hot summer. This project will set you back about $260, but as you
save energy costs, you'll find yourself paying up to $160 less each
year on your heating bills.
Water Tank and Pipe Insulation
Water Tank
Insulation requires that the water tank jacket is at least 75mm
(3 inches) thick. An insulation jacket costs about $19, but that
will save you about $20 per year in heating costs. Insulating hot
water pipes is a relatively straightforward way to save energy, but
you'll have to lift the floorboards to get at them in most cases.
Therefore, insulating the floor afterwards is a good idea.
Floor Insulation
The quickest and easiest floor insulation method is to fill all the
gaps in your floorboards, and the gaps between skirting boards and
floor, with a silicon rubber sealant. This method might cost up to
$20, but you should get your money back in the first year, and see
ongoing savings of around $20 per year after that. Alternatively,
you could insulate underneath the ground floor floorboards. This
might cost over $100, but you'll be saving about $50 per year as a
result. The main consideration here, though, is to make sure
air-bricks under the floorboards are not obstructed, which could
result in your floorboards rotting due to poor ventilation If you do
the job yourself, it will cost up to $50, but expect to see your
heating bill reduce by about $20 per year.
Homes with a solid fuel fire, gas fire or boiler with an open
flue require effective ventilation, and it is also very important in
kitchens and bathrooms to prevent condensation. If condensation is
an issue, try opening the window when cooking, fit an extractor fan,
and have chimneys swept regularly
If you are looking
for a Cabarrus County heating and air conditioning contractor please call
us today at 704-933-5262 or complete our
online request
form.
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