Your home needs insulation. It is part of what goes into making a home comfortable to live in. If you want to have a healthy house, you will need to know a little bit about insulation or at least when you should go about replacing old materials.

Energy costs

In basic terms, insulation in a roof or attic helps your home hold in warm air in the winter and blocks out hot air in the summer. Not only does this make your home stay at the right temperature, but it also keeps your heat and A/C from working too hard and raising your energy bill.

If you always seem to be running up a large tab with the energy company, check and see if your appliances are constantly running. It may be a sign that they are having to work too hard due to inefficient insulation. One way to tell for sure is to have an HVAC professional run an energy audit on your home. 

What’s in the attic?

Maybe a more obvious reason to replace insulation is when an animal has worked its way inside your attic. Rodents especially are great at making a big mess by tearing up insulation and leaving droppings all over the place.

Mold and mildew are high on the list of signs you need to replace insulation as well. If insulation is not working properly, an attic can store moist air rather than circulating it, leaving a home collecting water and growing harmful substances like mold.

Both mold and animals in the attic can be the cause of mysterious allergies or breathing issues. 

How much insulation to have

Insulation has a measurement for its resistance to allow heat flow through called an r-value. So if you have cellulose insulation with an r-value per inch of 3.5, you will need at least 11 inches of insulation to meet the minimum recommendation of R-38 for your home’s attic. The recommended r-value divided by the r-value per inch of your insulation will tell you how many inches you need. Of course, a roofing professional can help you determine the right amount for your home as well.

A great time to check your insulation is right now! Another opportunity is whenever you are getting roof work done. If you are going to be checking on the roof or attic, you might as well have a look at the insulation that’s keeping your home running effectively. And if your home is 30-40 years old and you don’t think the insulation has ever been replaced, look into having that done soon.

If you would like to learn more about roofing and our roof maintenance services, please call us at 405-359-3951.