Most homeowners understand that their Davis or Dixon home’s insulation works to keep them comfortable, but less understand exactly how their attic insulation accomplishes this. You also may have heard that your home could benefit from air sealing, but do you know how insulation and air sealing work together?
Here’s a deeper dive into the building science behind these two essential aspects of a home’s energy efficiency, and why the success or failure of one can seriously affect the other.
How Do Insulation and Air Sealing Benefit Your Home?
Insulation and air sealing both work to tackle the issue of heat moving between the outdoors and the inside of your home. But they do it in different ways.
Insulation slows the transfer of heat between the building materials that make up your home. There are different kinds of insulation, though whether you’re considering cellulose insulation vs. fiberglass batts, the end result is the same: insulation helps a home keep heat where it needs to be (this can mean keeping heat inside during the winter, and keeping the heat out in the summer).
Air sealing, on the other hand, is a form of weatherization that controls heat by decreasing air movement in a home. When homes have small holes and cracks, warm air can leak in and out, allowing heat to move much more freely between your conditioned living spaces and the outdoors.
Why You Should Schedule Air Sealing and Insulation Installation Together
Most insulation types (spray foam insulation is an exception) are not efficient air barriers, and their ability to slow heat transfer is significantly diminished by air movement.
Even if your home is sealed and air movement is restricted, heat will still be able to transfer through poor insulation.
Air sealing and insulating your home at the same time is the best way to see the many benefits of home energy efficiency upgrades, including:
- Lower heating and cooling bills (an average of 15% annually,according to the EPA)
- Increased home comfort
- Waste less energy and reduce carbon emissions
Greiner Heating, Air, and Electric Can Upgrade You to the Most Efficient Home Insulation
If you think you could benefit from the one-two punch of air sealing and insulation, the best first step is to schedule a home energy audit. An energy auditis a complete inspection and series of diagnostic tests performed on your home to determine where its energy efficiency is weakest. The results of an energy audit will target the specific areas of your Davis or Dixon home that need to be improved, and will give you a baseline to compare your new home performance against once retrofit work is complete.
Are you looking for an insulation company near you that can improve your home efficiency in an affordable way? Greiner Heating, Air, and Electric can help you qualify forPG&E rebates, saving you money on your home upgrade project.
Upgrade your insulation and air sealing to maximize your savings. Contact us today to get started.
