3 Options For Replacing Your Insulation in Your Columbus Home

When thinking about how to reduce their energy consumption this winter, most people in Columbus think about upgrading their heating system. While improving your heating system can potentially reduce the amount of energy you use, once that heat is inside your home it’s up to the insulation to continue maintaining your savings. In this blog post, we’re going to discuss what insulation does, how it’s rated, and why you might want to think about replacing your insulation.

What is Insulation?

Long ago, insulation consisted of shredded paper or textile that was placed in between the walls and ceilings of people’s homes. As technology developed, insulation became more advanced and more efficient. Now, we give insulation an efficiency rating that is called an R value. The R value describes a material’s thermal resistance, that is, how resistant it is to absorbing heat. The higher the R value, the more heat resistant the material is.

3 Types of Insulation

• Rolls and Batts – This is typically used in homes. It is the pink or yellow rolls that you’ve probably seen before. If your walls and ceilings were constructed using 2 x 4 wood beams, the insulation likely has an R value between 13 and 15.
• Rigid foam – This is typically used to insulate exterior walls but can be used on interior walls as well. It is typically more expensive than rolls and batts and has an R value of 4 or 5 per inch of thickness which is about double that of comparable materials of the same thickness.
• Foam-in-place – This type of insulation is blown into the spaces between ceiling and wall joists. It expands and fills the space. This type of insulation can have R values between 3 and 7 depending on the type that you get.

Why Replace Your Insulation?

Over time, everything breaks down. This is true for your insulation as well. The insulation in your home is your last stand at keeping the heat that your heating system produced inside. Upgrading your insulation is absolutely one of the best things that you can do to increase the efficiency of your home. The insulation that is in your ceiling is especially important. As the heat in your home rises, it tries to seep through into your attic and outside. Go up to your attic and look at the insulation that is lining the floor of it. If you notice it’s thin or that there are gaps between the ceiling joists, it means you are losing heat energy through those areas.

Upgrading your insulation is a great way to cut back on energy consumption and keep your home comfortable this winter. If you think that you need to have the insulation in your Columbus home replaced, call the heating experts at Quality Air Heating and Air Conditioning. We take pride in making sure that each of our customers is as comfortable as possible all year long. Give us a call today!