After a long and gloomy winter, the spring season is finally around the corner, and so is your need for expert home insulation. If you are reading this, we guess you are probably tired of cold living rooms, or damp/mouldy walls and windows. Maybe soaring energy bills are racking your nerves! Either way, we have decided to point out the obvious – Spring is a great time to insulate your property, and here are our top 4 reasons to take action!
1. Season to clean, repair and renovate.
Everybody loves a good spring clean (well maybe not everyone) but if you’re having a good clear-out, sorting your rooms and maybe doing some light building improvements, then why not insulate your home too? The practicality of insulating a project along with renovations significantly helps you leverage the benefits of your investment;
- Cost-effective: considering a ‘whole house’ approach could turn out to be a cost-effective project overall by saving additional spending on tradesmen, materials, and future upgrades.
- Minimal disruption: considering an insulation project during renovations is cohesive and consistent since it offers a chance to upgrade the insulation throughout the building while causing minimal disruption.
- Saves time: while all the works are running under the same roof, it saves the homeowner quite a lot of time than it takes to perform the operations individually.
- Reduce your carbon footprint: considering renovations and insulation at the same time significantly reduces the rate of carbon emitted during the whole process by designing, integrating, and reducing tradesmen, operation tools, moving vehicles, and waste materials.
2. Keeping allergies out.
The right choice of insulation often helps to keep the necessary allergens outside to an extent. Through insulation, it is possible to create a moisture-proof and vapour-resistant dwelling, which offers added protection from outdoor irritants like dust, pollen, mould, and mildew, all while maintaining an optimum temperature.
3. Time to reap the dual benefits of insulation.
Heat is a form of energy, and thermal energy loss within a building commonly occurs in three ways – conduction, convection, and radiation. Energy loss through conduction occurs when energy transfers from the interior walls, roofs, and floors of buildings to the colder outside structure. While energy flows continuously from warmer areas of dwellings to unheated or cold areas like basements, attics, garages, etc through air currents, it is called heat loss from convection. This type of heat loss occurs until there is a temperature difference. And finally, the heat that escapes through the glasses of windows refers to radiation.
Since entirely preventing the heat flow is impossible, the best solution is to slow down the heat exchange process by insulating the property. When a building is insulated, the material used for insulation acts as a barrier to prevent significant amounts of heat loss through convection, conduction, and radiation. Hence, during the spring months, the exterior walls of an insulated home will absorb as much heat as possible, keeping the temperature inside the house mild and comfortable while preparing your house to trap cool air in the harsh summer months.
Thus, contrary to popular belief, home insulation works its way around keeping your house warm during the winters and cool during the summers, allowing you to reap the benefits of home insulation throughout the year.
4. Time to save on energy bills.
On top of the ECO+ and ‘help to heat’ energy schemes, to meet maximum energy efficiency targets by 2025, the government also mandates Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for all UK households. The EPCs grade from A-G, where A-certified homes are categorised as the most energy efficient and G-certified ones are classified as the least efficient. Amidst all the efforts from the government, and increased momentum for sustainable living, over 12 million homes still fall below C grade on energy efficiency. This means the said homes are spending huge amounts on energy bills and are emitting tonnes of carbon per year due to a lack of proper insulation and draught-proofing.
Although energy prices peaked by 66.7% just in the last 12 months, increased dependence on electric fans and air conditioning systems are still noticed among UK households. Anyhow, while the overall effect could be easily reversed with the help of an efficient insulation system, most homeowners overlook the potential merits of an energy-efficient home somehow! From lowering fuel costs to enhancing overall comfort and environmental sustainability, insulation comes with a benefits package. Hence, letting conditioned air escape through the gaps of an uninsulated building only offers a way for a very uncomfortable summer and a huge energy bill.
On an added note, putting off insulation plans until it is already too hot or freezing cold outside is not a great idea. In most cases having a proactive approach toward insulation can benefit the homeowner in many ways. Since home insulation varies from quick fixes to professional installations, deciding on what works best for your project requires enough attention, to begin with. Choosing from a wide range of products to consulting expert suggestions are all awaiting in the process of achieving an energy-efficient home. Whether it be scheduling insulation installation or getting expert advice on your project, planning ahead gives the homeowner enough time to choose the right product, work out the time and budget for installation, and measure the perceived result.
