If you want to keep your home bills as low as possible, but yet live in warm and cozy rooms, you should think about home insulation. Insulate your home to save on energy bills! People are upgrading their homes so that they can be more energy-efficient.
Did you know that heat moves to cold? To understand how the heat or cold inside your home is distributed, use a simple ice and glove experiment.
If you placed an ice cube in your hand, you would notice how it melts, because the ice absorbs the heat from your body. However, if you were wearing a glove, that ice wouldn’t melt as fast.
That’s because insulation works by slowing down the conduction of heat. If you are serious about lowering your heat bills, and keeping your home energy-efficient, here is what you should do.
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Roof Insulation
Homeowners usually don’t know that a quarter of heat is lost through the roofing system. So, insulating your roof, attic, or flat roof, would be a smart investment. If your roof is currently isolated, you may think about reinforcing that insulation. Regulation requirements change fast, so make sure that you remain up to date with the latest roof insulation to reduce heat loss and achieve lower energy bills.
Floor Insulation
Your home should be entirely insulated, from the bottom to the top. That being said, you should think about floor insulation. Heat often escapes through the floor into the ground. Minimize this by implementing insulation and saving at least $60k per year. Plus, it will make your floors more pleasant – making your flooring cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Does this mean that you should insulate floors that are above unheated spaces, like garages? Yes, it does. These places are of particular importance because they can take a lot of heat from your home.
Replace Your Windows
Great windows can do wonders for your heating bills. High-performance windows are a great choice because they will help you keep the heat inside. When it comes to the maximum amount of insulation efficiency, go only for the best energy-efficient replacement windows. Great windows come equipped with a high-tech polymer that has an incredible capability to reflect the heat from sunlight off of your windows and away from your home.
Great windows provide:
- Amazing Insulation
- Solar Reflective Coating, and
- Energy Savings
With these characteristics on your mind, don’t settle for anything less than the best.
Draft Proofing
Gaps around doors, windows, and other holes in the building fabric are major energy enemies. Luckily, they are quickly dealt with by draught-proof windows and draught-proof doors. You can use many DIY tips to prevent cold air from rushing into your home from the gaps around doors, windows, and even pet doors, or letterboxes. Use:
- Foam Strips
- Chimney Balloons
- Draft Excluder Brushes
- Self-adhesive Strips
Think About Landscaping
Nature can help you live better if you know to use it to your advantage. Well-positioned trees can reduce summer sun and winter wind, and cut a household’s energy use by 25% or even more. During the hot summer days, trees can lower air temperature as much as 9 F through shading and evapotranspiration. In winter, a well planned and designed landscape can cut heating bills by about one-third. So, go green and plant trees! You will also help save the Planet!
Practical Tips to Reduce Energy Bills
Simple everyday actions can help you make significant financial savings:
- Top up your loft insulation to 27cm depth
- Draft proofing matters
- Use smart thermostat
- Use thermal blinds and curtains
- Think about wall insulation
- If your boiler is more than ten years old, replace it with a new one