The Importance of Housing Insulation

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Housing Insulation

The practice of home insulation has attracted considerable mainstream attention lately, thanks to the efforts of a subset of environmental activists, determined to glue themselves to the nation’s public highways.

It can’t be denied that insulating a home is a worthwhile thing to do, not least for the simple reason that it will provide an excellent return on the investment, particularly if you’re starting from a low base. But there are also environmental reasons to insulate: it’ll reduce the amount of energy that your home consumes, and thereby reduce its environmental footprint.

Major Benefits of Insulation:

Housing Insulation provides several advantages such as-

i) Lesser Energy Bills and Better Energy Efficiency:

Housing insulation can help to improve energy efficiency and therefore, it will also reduce the expense on energy bills. When you will be able to minimize energy consumption, CO2 emission by the power plants will be minimized.

ii) Homeowners’ Demand:

In the modern-day, most homeowners want their house to be energy efficient. Besides reducing the cost, this will make the house environment friendly. Lower-energy windows, energy star windows, energy star appliances are essential features for energy efficiency.

iii) Eliminates Noisy Home Condition:

Insulation makes the house perfect by reducing the outside and inside noises. The smart Noise control strategy can help to maintain the peace of the house.

iv) Insulation for Healthy Home:

Insulation promotes general well-being to the public. Housing insulation protects the family members from allergens, harmful pollutants, and chemicals from the outside environment. Therefore, a health-conscious homeowner should always consider the implementation of housing insulation.

Loft Insulation

According to most estimates, insulating a loft from zero to the recommended 270mm of insulating material will save you several hundred pounds per year, which in most cases means that it will pay for itself within two years. Even if you’re simply topping up the insulation you already have, you can often expect to recoup the investment within a decade.

Note that compressing your insulation will hugely reduce its efficacy, so make sure that any flooring you place over the top of the insulation is adequately raised.

Around a quarter of the energy in your home will exit through the roof, since hot air tends to rise to the top of any given room, from where it can conduct heat upwards. Ensuring that your roof is properly protected with water-tight roof membrane will prevent leaks from spoiling your investment.

Cavity Wall Insulation

Having insulated the loft, the next low-hanging fruit to reach for is the exterior walls of your property. If you have cavity walls, then you’ll be in a position than if you’d just had a single brick wall. The space between the walls, called the cavity, can be filled with insulating material, which will further prevent the movement of heat.

You can tell if a home has cavity walls simply by looking at it. If the bricks are evenly-laid, then you’re likely to have a cavity. If some bricks are half-sized, then it means that you’re looking at them side-on: they’re part of a single structure that’s two bricks thick. You can find out for sure by simply measuring from one side to the other. If it’s more than 270mm, then the chances are you have a cavity wall.

If you have a solid wall, then you can actually build extra insulation around it – but this is considerably less cost-effective than filling the cavity with blown insulation material.

Windows and Doors

In much the same way, double-glazed windows come with a gap between two panels. In modern windows, this is filled with inert gas, like argon. If your windows are looking a little bit on the aged side, then you might consider the value of upgrading. If you’re getting moisture between the panels, then it means that the seal is broken, and the window isn’t doing its job as well as it once did.