Why Is Good Insulation Important?

Why Is Good Insulation Important?

Most people understand that having good insulation is important, but do you know why? Do you also know that having good insulation isn’t important just for the winter season, but year-round? Are you aware that there are several types of insulation available for homeowners to use? Having a basic understanding of how insulation works and the types available can help to answer why having good insulation in your home is so important.

What Does Insulation Do?

Heat naturally moves toward colder air; the job of insulation is to slow the transfer heat, significantly slowing this natural movement toward cooler air. During the winter, insulation stops heat from moving toward the colder areas of your home and the outside; in summer, insulation slows the hot air from the outdoors from moving into your cooled living spaces. Heat moves in three ways:

• Conduction – the way heat moves through materials
• Convection – how heat moves through liquids and gases
• Radiant – heat that travels in a straight line and heats any solid object capable of absorbing the heat

Without good insulation, there is no way to slow any kind of heat movement.

Types of Insulation

There are 4 main types of insulation:

• Blanket/roll – this type of insulation comes in pink or yellow rolls, and is the most commonly-used type of insulation.

• Foam board/rigid foam – this type of insulation comes in a rigid board that can be cut to size.

• Spray foam – increasingly popular, spray foam is an adhesive that expands greatly when it makes contact with air and forms an air-tight seal with whatever it comes into contact with.

• Loose-fill – loose-fill, also known as blown-in insulation, is made mostly of recycled materials and is blown into homes through a small hole cut into an exterior wall.

Reasons Insulation Is Important

• Energy efficiency – without good insulation, you can’t maintain either heating or cooling.

• Comfort – the absence of poor insulation can create drafts, hot and cold spots and general indoor temperature discomfort.

• Less stress on your heating and cooling systems – your heating and cooling systems have to compensate for the lost heating or cooling, and will do so by working longer and harder. This can result in malfunction, breakdown and premature aging, in addition to higher monthly energy bills.

If you suspect you may be losing your heating to poor insulation, call Russell’s Heating and Air Conditioning today and schedule service for your heating system in Yucaipa with one of our HVAC experts.