When considering all of the different systems within a home that contribute to keeping it comfortable and protected from the outdoor elements, the attic usually doesn’t jump to the top of the list. However, the insulation in your attic can affect the overall comfort of your entire home in ways you may not expect—and if your attic insulation can affect your comfort, it can affect your wallet, too.
Fortunately, there are signs you can be on the lookout for in your St. Louis area home that can indicate your attic insulation is costing you in more ways than one. Here are 4 signs it is time to upgrade your attic insulation, and how you will stand to benefit!
The reason your attic even has insulation in the first place is to slow down the transfer of heat between your inside living space and the outdoors. In the winter, your furnace is creating the heat needed to reach the temperature you have set on your thermostat. That heat will then do everything it can to reach cooler temperatures, whether that is inside your home or outside. Hot air naturally rises – into your attic – and from there, it can escape outside through tiny holes or through the materials that make up your roof. Proper insulation in your attic will provide two benefits:
When your home does not have enough insulation, or the insulation you do have is deteriorated or damaged, one of the first places you might notice it is on the second floor. If your bedrooms are upstairs, have you noticed that it is hard to keep them comfortable? Is the main floor a totally different temperature than the upper floors? Upgrading your attic insulation will go a long way toward stabilizing the temperatures and maximizing the comfort of your entire home, all year round.
Poor attic insulation makes it harder for your home to hold a steady and consistent temperature. As heat escapes your home in the winter or infiltrates your home in the summer, your heating and cooling equipment will have to work harder to keep up. This means increased electricity or fuel costs, plus you’ll be paying more to heat and cool a home that isn’t even reaching its full comfort potential!
All of this heat moving around in a home that is under-insulated creates uncomfortable drafts. Attic insulation will stabilize the temperatures throughout your living space, giving heat nowhere to go and allowing you to enjoy consistent temperatures throughout every room.
Have you had any issues with ice dams during previous winters? When an under-insulated attic allows heat to reach the underside of your snowy roof, the melting snow refreezes when it reaches the colder parts of your roof’s overhang, creating an ice blockage. Upgrading your attic insulation with proper air baffles will prevent ice dams from forming.
If any of these symptoms sound familiar, your home could benefit from upgrading your attic insulation and air sealing. Upgrading your attic insulation increases your overall home performance by stabilizing temperatures throughout your home, while air sealing closes up the tiny holes and cracks in your home, increasing the overall effectiveness of your insulation. When these two services are combined, you can benefit in multiple ways, such as:
