It’s as crucial during summer as it is in winter: here's why insulation is important.
The purpose of insulation
You may have been misled on this score: insulation is just as important during the hot summer months, as it is during the chilly winter ones. Your home insulation solutions have a significant effect on the comfort level within your home, and your lifestyle. Your selected home insulation solution doesn’t just function to keep heat in, it helps to keep your home cool too. Enabling a good airflow that helps to keep the temperature within your home at a comfortable level, your home insulation should work for the season and for your lifestyle.
Your insulation options
Moreover, installing the right insulation solutions for your home can improve your property value and extend the life cycle of your home’s furnishings. Ultimately, the right home insulation solution pays for itself, in several ways. Here’s why your choice in home insulation solution matters:
Not just your roof
When most people consider their home insulation choices, their first thought goes to their roof insulation. But the process of correctly insulating your home starts long before you look towards the ceiling. Instead, when you’re considering your home’s insulation needs, don’t forget to:
- Start with your windows and doors: Small cracks, broken frames, or malfunctioning fittings can severely impact the insulation level of your home, causing an incorrect flow of air. Interestingly too, the size, shape, and function of your windows and doors can also have an effect on the internal temperature of your home.
- Rearrange the furniture: Ensuring a free flow of air through your home is important, and blocking up vents, windows, or doorways with furniture or other items can have a negative effect on the internal temperature of your home. Those sweaty summer nights could be cooled down a little by simply moving things around.
- Check your electricity bill: Making sure you’re using the right insulation option for your home can significantly decrease your reliance upon electricity, and cut a solid amount off your utility bills. This is especially important during the colder winter months, as correct insulation helps your home retain more heat, and reduces your reliance upon electrical heaters and similar solutions.
- Ask around: Strangely enough, a large proportion of South African homes are under-insulated, meaning that many of us are feeling the winter chill or sweating our summer makeup off, even when we’re indoors. Ask your neighbours about their insulation solution, and find out more about how they approach it, as this may help you make the right choice for your home too.
Roof insulation options
That said, almost a quarter of your home’s internal temperature is governed by the insulation option you select for your roof. Choosing the right insulation solution for your roof will depend on your budget and home size. Moreover, your property location will play a big role in this decision-making process, as varied climates across South Africa require different insulation solutions. Whichever home insulation solution you check, just remember that this isn’t usually a DIY job. Instead, find a professional, certified insulation specialist who can work with you to make the right choice for your home, and ensure it’s insulated correctly.
Avoiding asbestos
In decades gone by, using asbestos as an insulation solution was a popular choice in homes. Significant research conducted on the health consequences of using asbestos for this purpose, however, revealed that it is a deeply harmful substance. While asbestos has been banned for domestic usage, many old homes are still hiding this material in their roofs and ceilings. Big tip: if you’re buying a fixer-upper, or an older home, check the roof for asbestos before signing your offer to purchase.
Selecting your roof insulation
There are several insulation options available to you when choosing how you’d like to insulate your roof. If your home has been insulated before, this may have an effect on your decision, but it’s important to update your home insulation as your home matures. Make sure your home insulation is checked for any breaks, cracks, or tears, on a regular basis, by a professional. If and when it needs replacing, don’t delay - the effects of degraded insulation solutions will be felt across your home and within your wallet too. When you insulate your roof, your contractor will help you choose from a range of insulation options that may work for your needs. Whether it’s a bulk insulation solution, a reflective solution, or other choice of insulation, your roof insulation must work for the unique needs of your home.
Eco-friendly insulation options
Thanks to the ever-expanding approach towards green living, eco-friendly insulation options are proving popular amongst homeowners. Rather than using synthetic materials, eco-friendly insulation options are manufactured from recycled materials, or natural fibres. They’re also, often, less expensive than the synthetic insulation materials and the cost savings don’t end there: you’ll be doing good for the environment, good for your home, and good for your wallet.
Home insulation maintenance
Of course, no home insulation solution is the right one, if it’s not working properly. Make sure you have your insulation solution checked on a regular basis, and make any repairs or replacements as and when you need to. Typically, if you’re selling your home or looking to buy a new home, checking the insulation should form part of your property checklist.