In our modern lives, energy takes many forms. For our homes, we prioritize light and heat—two crucial forms of energy, especially as we approach the winter months. But creating the energy we need to power our light fixtures and furnaces represents roughly half the battle. The other half concerns preserving as much of that energy as possible and keeping it where it can do the most good—snugly within our four walls.
But where can we conserve energy better? What benefits would, say, attic insulation have? Let’s see how this home improvement project can make a surprising impact.
Conserving Energy
It’s well known that hot air rises while cold air sinks. The energetic, hot air your furnace creates floats up through your home where it’s met, eventually, by the roof. A properly insulated roof is a must-have, but what about that no-man’s land between ceiling and roof? What about your attic space?
To conserve as much energy as you can, investing in a thoroughly insulated attic space is a great first step. A well insulated attic has numerous advantages when combined with an insulated roof.
Benefits of Attic Insulation
The most obvious benefit of a well-insulated home is that you keep more of the energy you’re already making and using, requiring less energy overall. There are, however, numerous other benefits that may help you justify the cost of insulating your attic.
Lower Utility Bills
In both warmer and colder months, proper insulation can save you a mint on power bills alone. To make the most of the conditioned air in your home—whether cold or hot—you’ll want to plug any places where it might escape. Your attic and roof are two such places, and by insulating them more efficiently, you’ll conserve more of the air that’s already been treated, lightening the load for your HVAC system all year long.
Improved Air Quality
If you, your partner, or your child experience asthma or allergies, improving the quality of the air you breathe could improve the quality of the life you live. Irritants, pollutants, spores, and other contaminants find their way into your home through gaps in construction. Once inside, these particles are blown about by your HVAC system, effectively trapping and circulating them room to room. By insulating your attic, you could spare yourself the sneezes, wheezing, and coughing you’ve come to expect.
Pest Control
Where treated air leaks from your home, pollutants and pests may enter it. Wasps, roaches, ants, termites, flies, and a whole other host of pesky pests and rodents may be setting up shop in your home’s attic. By adding insulation where your attic lacks it, you’re effectively shutting the door on these annoying and harmful critters.
Reduces Moisture
Rain, condensation, dew, and spores can all find their way into your attic space, mixing to create the perfect storm for mold and moisture damage. Water is the enemy of any structure, especially those featuring timber (as most structures do). Leaks from gaps in the roof or around the attic can quickly turn into dangerous mold and expensive renovations—two headaches we would all simply prefer to avoid.
Adds Years to your Roof
If you’ve ever replaced a roof before, you can say one thing for certain: it’s pretty expensive. Preserving your roof is a simple matter of making it as watertight as possible. Insulating in and around your attic gives your roof the best chance of going the distance with your home, further adding value, maximizing investment, and forestalling any expensive emergency repairs.
Roof & Attic Together
The roof over your head is perhaps the most important feature of your home. The roof and attic together have a tremendous impact on everything from your everyday comfort to the quality of air you and your family breathe. To make the most of your investment in your home, and of your health and happiness, a small investment in the insulation of your attic could pay untold dividends for decades to come.
Conserve money by conserving treated air.
The future is more efficient than the past or even the present. As we respond to the increased need for energy, we should all look for ways (major and minor) to conserve the resources that we rely on. Proper insulation can save you money in more than a dozen ways while making your home more efficient and comfortable year round. To learn more about what you can do to save money and increase efficiency, give Alabama Power a call at 1-888-44-SMART!
