Insulation and your home

I know it seems that I have been talking about how cold it is here in Ottawa a lot but, well it is damn cold! Due to our cold winters, and some pretty chilly homes that I have been in, I decided that it’s time to talk about insulation. Everybody knows that insulation is a key factor in energy savings for your home, but not everyone knows how to improve it, if it even needs improving, and whether or not you have to tear your home apart to improve it. Let’s see if I can help out a bit.

The bad news – With homes built prior to 1970, insulation was not a major concern for builders. Older homes can benefit by adding some more insulation, as well as tending to gaps by windows and doors that have occurred through settling over time.

The good news- improving energy efficiency is pretty easy to do regardless of the age of your home.

First the Windows: I have talked about windows in previous posts so I won’t go into great detail here. Basically, if you can’t afford to replace those old windows, properly weather strip them, or wrap them. Up to 50% of a home’s heating and cooling needs results from heat gain and loss through windows.

Next the Attic: If you have an older home, you may have vermiculite insulation and it could contain asbestos so you may want to call in a professional. Asbestos is hazardous once airborne so don’t disturb it once up there. You can add more insulation by blowing some more into the attic, and then rake it all up so it’s evenly distributed. Or by simply adding more batt insulation. Blown is a tad better than batt as there are no seems between sections that allow air escape through. You can do this yourself by renting the machine to blow the insulation. Pretty easy, and kinda fun to do.

The walls: Ok so its a bit of a pain to do, but you will notice the difference and it will be a great selling feature when you sell your home. If you are planning on remodelling, this is a great time to add insulation or more of it since the walls will already be exposed. If not, you can blow in more insulation and then you will just have to do patch ups in the areas you do as opposed to redoing the whole wall.

The extra mile: So, we touched on windows and doors, attic, and walls. Where else can we get some savings for our energy costs? How about electrical outlets, exterior lighting attached to your home, even crawl spaces? Get out that caulking gun and walk around the exterior of your home. Remove any old caulking around light fixtures and replace with new. Don’t cheap out either on the caulking as you get what you pay for. Ensure all electrical outlets are properly insulated as well. If you have a crawl space, check to see if insulated, if not, why not?

This all seems common sense i’m sure, but it’s something that is often over looked. With the ever increasing costs of heating your home, more people are looking for energy efficient homes, why not have that selling feature in your favour? Like most home maintenance, it is more labour intensive as opposed to costly. So get off the couch and make your home a bit more efficient already! Unless you don’t want extra money in your pockets of course.