Living in a nice house can be a wonderful experience when everything is going along smoothly, your income is easily keeping pace with all your outgoings and life is just dandy. Then someone knocks on your door and asks you if your attic is insulated. If it is, that’s fine, but what if it isn’t? Why insulate your attic anyway? And what kind of insulation would you need?
Its quite amazing how many homeowners have no idea whether their attics are insulated or not or even why they should be. Well, if it isn’t insulated, you could be wasting hundreds of dollars in heating or cooling power bills that are literally escaping through your roof. This in itself is a darn good reason to do something positive about it and plug that gap in your outgoings that you don’t even know about. The cost of installing attic insulation is soon recouped by the savings in power bills which are ever on the rise.
So what kind of insulation should you have in your attic? Well, there are several types, but what you should aim for is something that will create the maximum thermal barrier to prevent the most heat loss in winter and the greatest heat prevention in summer. A radiant barrier insulation installation coupled with fiberglass inlay is the most effective combination and needn’t cost the earth to install.
When installed, your attic thermal barrier will make your home feel a lot warmer in winter while you can turn the heating down and save energy and the cost of that energy. In summer, the benefits are reversed in that the thermal barrier will help to prevent your home from heating up unnecessarily and therefore reduce the load on air conditioning, again saving energy and costs.
It really is a win-win situation to have your attic properly insulated, so if you haven’t already and that someone comes knocking on your door asking if you have your attic insulated or not, you will be able to answer with confidence and send them on their way without being made to look a fool!
