Energy Efficient Homes

With the increasing cost of the heating and cooling bills

, it is becoming more and more difficult for homeowners to mange this expenditure. Moreover, the heating and cooling is not even effective in most of the houses due to improper insulation. Hence, in order to make homes energy efficient as well as save on the electricity bills, one needs to have proper insulation at home. Insulation offers resistance to heat flow, which has a tendency to escape to cooler areas through various gaps or cracks in the walls, or ceilings in the house's exterior shell. As a result, the heating or cooling is not effective and consumes more power to maintain optimum temperature inside the house. In addition, heat also flows through the gaps around windows. To prevent this you can install Tax Credit windows which enhance the energy efficiency as well as earn you rebate. Moreover, with proper insulation and air sealing, the home remains cool during summers and warm during winters, this enables you to turn down the thermostat knob by a few degrees which further helps in saving energy as well as money.

The amount of insulation required depends on various factors, such as the type of construction, climate and energy costs. In order to determine the amount of insulation required for your home, get an insulation audit done by your energy provider or a builder that can assess it as per the local building code. Once done, you can select from a wide range of insulation materials as per its R-value. R-value numerically indicates the effectiveness of the material in providing insulation, higher the R-value, better the insulating power.

There are different types of insulation materials amongst which you can choose as per your requirement. You can select blown in, sprayed, Concrete block, rigid fibrous, reflective system and blanket (batts and rolls) insulation. These use a variety of insulation materials, such as fiberglass, cellulose, foam and mineral (rock or slag) wool.

Moreover, since the R-values are cumulative, hence one does not have to remove the current insulation and install new material. In contrast, one can install additional insulation to reach the required R-values by adding the values of both current and new insulation material. For example, a concrete block house offers a sturdy Shell which provides an insulation factor, but in order to have optimum insulation you may have to install additional insulation. This can be done easily by creating a sub wall inside the surface of the block and fill this stud space with suitable R-value insulation material.

by: USI

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