If you're looking for ways to improve your home's comfort and energy consumption, look to your attic. Most people are shocked to learn their attic provides the substantial energy savings. When your attic isn't insulated well, you end up turning up the heat or the air and, without even realizing it, letting your hard-earned money go through the roof.
How Your Attic Insulation Keeps You Comfortable
Are you finding that you need to adjust the thermostat regularly to obtain a comfortable temperature setting in your home? If you've checked your thermostat and had your HVAC serviced recently, but you're still feeling too hot or too cold in your home, consider the state of your home's attic insulation.
All attics require insulation. This material not only prevents heat loss, but it also keeps heat from getting into your home when you don't want it, such as during the summer. When your house was brand new, the insulation was probably doing its job accordingly-unless it wasn't installed properly. Now, over time, as your home ages, the attic insulation starts to wear.
How Does This Happen?
If the insulation installed was builder-grade or cheap material, then it's not going to last for decades. After a few years, it starts to break down and provide less and less protection against heat loss and heat reflection. Another issue that affects insulation is nature. Attics are the perfect place for critters to hide and they tend to like to burrow in the insulation or eat it. If your home's roof has holes or gaps, that's all a squirrel, racoon, or other critter needs to enter your attic. Once your attic's insulation starts to fall apart and stop doing its job, this is when you may notice comfort issues in your home.
Another issue that causes comfort problems isn't that your insulation is falling apart, but that it's insufficient for your needs. All insulation material comes with an R-value. The higher the value, the better the material is at protecting against heat loss. For example, insulation with an R-value of 30 isn't as good as an R-60 product. Where you live makes a difference as to what R-value is best for your home. People who live in extremely cold or extremely warm climates need insultation with a higher R-value to protect against heat loss and stop heat from penetrating their homes during the hot summer months.
How to Make Your Home Comfortable Again
Installing new insulation is the first step toward getting your home's temperature and energy bills under control, barring there's nothing wrong with the HVAC unit. Contact your local roofing company and ask them to inspect your attic's insulation. They will look for insufficiencies and make recommendations for improving your home insulation.
If you're looking for a quality roofing company in the Atlanta area with a reputation for great service, contact your local roofers at Findlay Roofing today to schedule an appointment.
