GREENVILLE Blog

5 Areas Your Greenville Area Home Needs Insulation

The Importance of Insulation

When it comes to making sure your home has sufficient insulation coverage, it’s important to first understand why this material is so significant to your comfort and safety. The primary function of insulation is to improve temperature regulation and climate control by reducing the rate of heat transfer. This is how easily heat can move through a building’s structure.

The effectiveness of a material’s ability to reduce heat transfer is measured by the insulation’s R-value. Also known as resistance value, a higher R-value typically means the material is more effective at keeping your home temperature regulated. One of the first ways a homeowner can tell they need to check for old, damaged, or deteriorated insulation is one area of the house struggling to stay the same temperature as the rest of the building. If you’re starting to notice an overworked HVAC system, poor indoor air quality, or higher energy costs, poor insulation quality may be the culprit.

Where Your Home Needs Insulation

1. The Attic

The attic is one of the first places people will name when asked where they can find insulation. Most houses will generally have some type of blown-in or loose fill material lining the floor of the attic. Fiberglass, mineral wool, and cellulose are some of the more common insulation types you may find installed above your ceiling. You may recall your parents reminding you to be careful and avoid touching the fluffy material upstairs if you ever helped them move storage or decorations to and from this area. However, just because you can see the material lining the floor when you poke your head up there doesn’t mean the home is necessarily well-insulated.

In order to ensure your home is properly covered, it’s important to have your attic insulation regularly checked and updated. Because heat rises, the topmost part of your house can turn into a furnace in the summer and an escape for warmth in the winter. While you may be concerned with giving the house room to “breathe”, air sealing and covering all walls, ceilings, and floors help keep the building temperature regulated. To learn more about airflow throughout the house and attic, read our article here.

2. Inside of Walls

Regularly evaluating and updating the insulation within the walls of your home is a crucial part of improving temperature regulation. However, this isn't the only benefit the packed-in material can provide to your household and other residents. Insulation within the walls is a significant contributing factor to things like noise reduction, mold and moisture resistance, and even pest control depending on what type you have installed. With the use of thermal imaging testing, your local technicians at Koala Insulation of Greenville will be able to tell you whether or not your walls are in need of retrofitted insulation.

The walls and foundation of your home are built with the intention of protecting you from the outside elements, pollutants, and unwanted guests and pests. Without the support of insulation and air sealing, your supports aren't able to get the job done nearly as efficiently. Insulation works like a cushion for both heat and sound waves, reducing the ability of these forces to enter and exit your house.

3. Under the Floors

Many homeowners are unaware that the insulation underneath their floorboards needs to be updated almost as regularly as the material within their attic. Some may even be surprised to find out there’s material to be found under the floorboards! This area is just as important to keep well-insulated and maintained as the walls and attic. Regardless of whether you’re living in a multi-story home, have a basement or crawl space, or you’ve transformed the attic into an additional living space, the floors are a prime suspect for escaped air and uncomfortable drafts.

An underinsulated home is more likely to have an increase in discomfort from drafts, moisture, and even the potential for mold growth. These health hazards, along with the potential for invasive pollutants, bacteria, and other outdoor pests, are why air sealing and insulation play a crucial role in keeping your household safe. With a free evaluation, you can determine where your home is lacking under those old floorboards.

4. On the Ceilings

When it comes to maintaining a temperature-regulated environment, it's not just about improving the space from room to room; you also need to consider from floor to ceiling. We mentioned earlier that heat rises, meaning it most often escapes through the top of your home. Therefore, it's important for your ceilings to be properly insulated with strong, durable material. While many homeowners commonly turn to batt insulations made from fiberglass or mineral wool, spray foam is just as helpful when installed in between the ceiling joists.

An underinsulated ceiling is a significant contributing factor to heat loss throughout the winter and heat gain during the summer. With help from your local insulation experts, you can greatly reduce unwanted heat transfer throughout your home with a simple thermal imaging test. Every technician on the team at Koala Insulation of Greenville is trained and ready to help educate homeowners on the importance of a well-insulated building.

5. In Basements & Crawl Spaces

Finally, insulating your basement and/or crawl spaces under the house can greatly factor into regular energy savings. The Department of Energy states that sufficiently covering these areas “saves you money on heating and provides a dry, comfortable living space.” Much like the space in your attic, these lower levels will typically cover a significant area under the home, if not the entire foundation. Therefore, regularly inspecting and maintaining this area is crucial.

Similar to the importance of insulating your floors, the underground levels of your home greatly contribute to air leakage, moisture build-up, mold, and even pest nesting. Regardless of whether you choose to have fiberglass, cellulose, spray foam, or another type of material installed in the lower levels of your home, local experts will be able to get you the most savings without sacrificing comfort and safety.

Making Sure Your South Carolina Home is Well-Insulated

In order to make sure your home’s insulation is effectively maintained throughout the years, it’s important to understand the material around you, including where it should be found. At Koala Insulation of Greenville, we’re dedicated to helping educate our community on cost-effective and energy-efficient materials and practices. Our team of industry professionals is trained and experienced in helping you and your household find solutions that improve your comfort and safety without sacrificing your schedule and budget. Contact Koala Insulation of Greenville today to schedule a free evaluation and learn more about how insulation and air sealing can impact your environment.