When it is cold outside, the warm air in your house is likely to escape into the cold of the night. This inherently makes your household spend much more heating the house. Conversely, when it is hot, air from outside will come into your home, making your cooling system work much harder than it ought to.

With proper home insulation, this could well be a thing of the past, since home insulation reduces your heating and cooling costs by up to 40%. Insulating your home prevents the loss of heat to the outdoors and, ultimately, helps you save on your utility bills. If you’ve just done a home energy audit and are displeased by the results, you should consider insulating your home.

This article will provide helpful information to nudge you along as you choose the best type of home insulation for your home.

1. Batts and Rolls

Rolls and batts are flexible materials made from mineral fibers like rock wool and fiberglass. They are designed to slip right into the spaces between wood frames. They help control temperatures, lower energy costs, and treat your home acoustically.

Most manufacturers use plant-based, recycled, and renewable ingredients, making batts and rolls environmentally sustainable. Although they are equally effective in controlling temperature, they are designed to work best in specific areas of your home.

For example, if you have a lot of ceiling room with no obstacles, and you’re looking to install the insulation across the ceiling joists, the most suitable method would be to use rolls. This is because rolls can be “rolled out” between the joists.

However, if your ceiling space is too tight and has obstacles like cables and ventilation pipes, insulation contractors would recommend insulation batts. This is because rolled insulation will catch on these obstacles, thus won’t work as effectively.

2. Spray Foam Insulation

This home insulation option comes as foam and is sprayed into place. This type of insulation is useful when applied to unfinished attic floors, enclosed walls, and in sealing up new cavities in the wall. When insulation companies need to spray large quantities of spray foam onto a surface, they use specialized high-pressure equipment.

There are two types of spray foam insulation; open-cell and closed-cell insulation. Closed-cell foam has high-density cells that are closed and filled with gas that makes the foam expand and fit snugly into the cavities around it, making it very effective.

Open-cell foam, on the other hand, has cells that aren’t quite as dense and are filled with air, and this gives it the texture of soft sponge. It is incredibly light and easy to install, but shouldn’t be installed below ground level since it may absorb water. The type of foam-in-place insulation you use for your home will depend on your budget and how you plan to use it.

3. Cellulose Insulation

Cellulose insulation is an environmentally friendly home insulation option and is made from loose-fill organic material made from waste paper. During manufacture, the cellulose is usually chemically treated to provide better resistance against pests and moisture. Because of its material, cellulose has a high absorption capacity, implying that it can absorb enough moisture to impede its functionality.

Cellulose insulation should, therefore, be replaced regularly, ideally once every five years. It is installed either by pouring it down or by blowing it into place. This makes it ideal to use when insulating irregularly-shaped areas, or when trying to work around obstacles.

4. Mineral Wool Insulation

It is also called rock wool insulation and is quite similar to fiberglass, although it is more expensive and doesn’t have fiberglass’ irritating reaction. It also comes in loose-fill, thus can be poured out or blown in place. An added advantage of using mineral wool is that it is designed to withstand incredibly high temperatures, and in this way, outperforms other methods of home insulation.

Home Insulation- What Do You Stand to Gain?

Insulating your home helps reduce energy costs, prevents condensation of moisture, provides acoustic treatment, and maximizes the return on investment (ROI) when you put your home on the market. It prevents energy loss, thus reduces your carbon footprint, helping you do good for the environment.