Is Air Sealing the Attic Worth It?

The performance of your home is something that you rarely think about and some of us don’t even know what “home performance” means. However, with increasing energy costs (heating oil I’m looking at you), homeowners are looking for ways to lower or better manage energy bills. Home performance includes a thorough evaluation of your home to detect how and where your home is performing inefficiently. That includes looking for air leakage hotspots like around windows, doors, and in attics.

What is Air Sealing?

Some homeowners may not be aware that their attics can be a major source of air leakage even if it has insulation. Air sealing an attic involves finding bypass areas that allow the conditioned air from inside the home to mix with the unconditioned air outside the home. For example, if an electrician or plumber drilled a hole in the top plate in the attic to run wires or pipes, if that hole isn’t sealed, air can get into and out of your home. Now imagine that scenario several times throughout the attic. An experienced insulation professional can identify areas in your attic that are weak points and in need of air sealing for the insulation to be most effective.  Air sealing your attic can stop air leaks and helps to maintain your desired home temperature. Combined with attic insulation, air sealing can also help to reduce the formation of dangerous ice dams in the winter.

We Focus on Home Performance

At Koala Insulation of Central Connecticut, we focus on home performance and not just insulation. We will thoroughly evaluate your attic space; recommend removal of old, degraded or damage insulation, proper cleaning of attic floor, then air sealing any weak points before adding new insulation.

We stress the importance of air tightness or sealing just as much as insulation because without it, you leave your new insulation exposed, the air quality in your living space exposed and possible higher than desired energy bill. Good insulation alone is not enough to prevent heat loss in the winter or reduce the amount of heat entering the house in the summer.  Air sealing, adequate insulation and proper attic ventilation are the most energy efficient ways to ensure your home’s optimal performance. Air sealing is worth the investment as it provides long term savings on heating and cooling costs.

Need help with air sealing or attic insulation? Contact us at Koala Insulation of Central Connecticut for more information today.