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Updated: May 3, 2024
You may wonder what attic insulation has to do with your home. After all, you live in Houston and Houston doesn’t get that cold. But insulation not only helps keep homes warm during cold weather; it also helps homes retain cool air during hot weather.
An attic that is loosing conditioned air means that your heat pump, central air or furnace has to work harder to keep your home at the temperature you desire. All that conditioned air you’re paying for could literally be going through the roof.
According to Energy Star, making sure that our attic is well sealed offers big gains in the energy efficiency of our homes. Here’s how to check and fix your attic’s insulation:
How To Tell
Spotting a poorly insulated attic doesn’t even require a trip up the ladder. You can tell if your attic is poorly insulated if you notice any of the following:
- Drafty rooms
- Hot or cold ceilings and or walls
- Rooms that are hot or cold compared to the rest of the house
- High energy bills
What To Do
If you have signs of a poorly insulated attic, you have two options.
- Contact a qualified contractor. Just as when you choose an air conditioning repair company, you should look for a contractor that has a good reputation with people you know and who has a good standing with the Better Business Bureau.
- Do it yourself. If you’re going to tackle this DYI project, you should have a considerable level of skill for longer, more involved home projects because this project is likely going to be dirty, hot and take a couple of days.
Regardless if you hire a contractor or do-it-yourself, the process is the same. You or the contractor will need to first inspect the attic to make sure it is properly sealed. Areas where the ceiling meets the walls are areas of a home that need to be sealed to properly keep air in.
When these areas are sealed, then you or the contractor can add insulation to the ceiling. There are several different insulation choices you’ll need to consider:
- Loose fill insulation can dramatically improve the energy efficiency of your home, but usually requires a professional company for installation.
- Batt insulation can still provide good insulation value, and is easy for a do-it-yourself project.
Making sure that you attic is properly sealed and insulated is a great way to improve the efficiency of your home. Better efficiency means lower energy bills, regardless of what the Texas weather decides to throw your way.
At Richmonds Air, we want our customers in Bellaire, SugarLand, Bunker Hill Village and other communities in the metro-Houston area to be comfortable year round. Learn more about how you can increase the efficiency of your home or contact us today for routine service (which can improve your AC’s efficiency), sales, and for repairs.
