5 Things to Consider When Installing Attic Insulation
Like any renovation project, adding attic insulation to your home can increase your indoor comfort and your resale value - it’s a smart renovation with long-term benefits. At EcoStar, we believe wholeheartedly in the benefits of insulating your home and attic - but before you jump right in, here are 5 things to consider that will help you make the best decision for the needs of your home and your budget.
1. What is the best attic insulation for your home?
The first thing you’re going to notice when looking to add attic insulation to your home is that there are a LOT of options on the market, and it can difficult - not to mention confusing - to figure out which one might be best. In our minds, the best insulation checks a couple of boxes:
- it’s easy to install
- it offers a high R-Value
- it lasts a long time
- it is resistant to water, mold, and pests
- it helps to reduce noise pollution
At EcoStar, our attic insulation of choice is spray foam insulation because it checks off all of these boxes (and more), offering homeowners the best insulation for their investment.
Spray foam insulation is one of the most modern ways to insulate your home, and will bring you improved indoor comfort and home safety for many years. Spray foam insulation is, as the name suggests, applied as a liquid to the walls, floors, or roof of your home. Just like shaving foam, it rapidly expands and then sets into a dense, energy-saving barrier. Installing spray foam perfectly takes practice, and in the last ten years the EcoStar team has been perfecting our application and understanding of this product through thousands of installations.
2. Which R-Value do you need for the attic?
One of the terms you may come across when looking at home insulation materials is R-Value. Just like any industry, insulation contracting has its own specialized terms and language that can communicate complex information in understandable short form. R-Value is one of those terms, and all insulation products are rated with it. R-Value refers to any given insulation material’s capacity to resist heat flow. During the winter, insulation helps keep heat in the house. While in the summer months, insulation is your barrier against the heat, keeping it out of the house.
Choosing the right R-Value for your home is something we’d like to help you with. Each home has slightly different requirements and needs that a professional insulation specialist can identify. Usually for cold climates, an attic needs a minimum requirement of R-49 in the attic.
3. How long does insulation last in the attic?
Knowing when your attic insulation needs replacing is another key part of making the best decisions for your home. The lifespan of traditional insulation types is affected by many different factors, such as:
- weather
- temperature
- pest infiltration
- humidity
- water damage
The good news is that spray foam insulation is less affected by these problems - the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors states that correctly installed spray foam insulation can last for more than 80 years. This ongoing value (and savings in home heating costs) makes spray foam not only a wise choice, but an extremely economical one as well.
4. Is attic insulation energy efficient?
One of the biggest things we’re concerned with as homeowners is ensuring that our property is energy efficient. With the reality of climate change causing extreme weather events and increasing the price of essentials such as electricity, upping your home’s energy efficiency can help you do your part in greening the planet.
Insulating your attic delivers the best return on investment when it comes to making energy efficient home renovations - according to the U.S. Department of Energy, savings of up to 50% can be experienced when adding new insulation to the attic.
If you’re wondering why your heating and cooling bill seems so high every month, a lack of insulation in the attic might be the answer. Warm air (or, during the summer, cool air) is always looking to escape (or infiltrate) your home, and insulation is the barrier that helps to keep it in. The attic is an important part of this for a few reasons. There’s the obvious part (heat rises) and then the part that most of us homeowners ignore - the attic has a huge footprint in your home. Just because we don’t often use it doesn’t mean that our activities below don’t affect it.
An inadequately insulated attic might be acting like a heat-sink, attracting and pulling all of your conditioned air into it, where it easily escapes to the exterior. This means your furnace or air conditioner must always run to keep your thermostat level, which will cost you a great deal of money both on your monthly bills and in annual maintenance or repair bills. New insulation will help stop this heat drain, immediately creating a more energy efficient home.
5. Is attic insulation really worth it?
While the short term goal of investing in attic insulation is an increase in your indoor comfort and a lowering of your monthly heating and cooling costs, the long term benefits of increased energy efficiency and the added value that new insulation brings to your home makes it an incredibly forward-thinking renovation. While cosmetic upgrades certainly add value and comfort to your home, insulation is a renovation that actually pays back by helping to reduce the cost of your heating and cooling.
Why Choose EcoStar?
Choosing to work with a professional team such as EcoStar guarantees you receive a high-quality installation with little fuss, mess, and disruption to your daily routine, as well as all the benefits from a company that has nearly a decade installing spray foam insulation in Southern Ontario. When you work with us, we’ll help you answer not only these five questions, but any that you may have about insulation products, care, and more. If you’re thinking about adding attic insulation to your home, contact us online for more information, or call us at 1-866-789-1536.
