Why Spray Foam Should be Installed by Professionals
Spray Foam Insulation DIY
It is widely known that there are many benefits to spray foam insulation. That and the ease of being able to purchase the materials at any home improvement store, may leave people wanting to work on their own DIY spray foam projects. While you may be able to save a pretty penny by installing spray foam on your own, there are many things that could go wrong due to the lack of inexperience with the chemicals and their application.
For example, most people are not aware that spray foam is made up of two chemicals that require strict adherence to their ratios. If they are not mixed properly and in the right amounts, the spray foam will be ineffective and potentially harmful.
To avoid instances like the one above, here are some reasons you should hire a professional to install your insulation:
Safety: Professional installers have the proper safety precautions in place when it comes to working with spray foam, as well as the experience of working with it. Also, If your home has insulation that must be removed, asbestos and mold could be present posing a risk to your health. Professional contractors have the right equipment, know how to remove old insulation, and know how to install spray foam insulation safely.
Spray Foam Efficiency: Spray Foam can be a powerful sealant when applied correctly. But if applied wrong it will not make your house more energy efficient. Having an expert perform the job will ensure high efficiency of the material.
Higher Quality Installation: Spray foam contractors have the knowledge to help you make the best decisions about what kind of spray foam insulation to install, as well as where to install it. Not to mention, spray foam is a messy substance and can splatter in places where you don’t want it to. Professional installers will take the measures needed to ensure that the installation process is as clean as possible.
Overall, it is better to be safe than sorry and hire a contractor to ensure that the job is done safely and efficiently. If you have any more questions about spray foam insulation or need to know more about the services our team offers, feel free to contact Comfort 1st!
Why Insulation Helps Reduce Energy Bills
Insulation is a fantastic invention that has kept people warm for many years. You may wonder how insulation works and why insulation helps reduce energy bills. We’re going to answer both these questions, so read on!
What Is Insulation?
All types of insulation aim to accomplish the same goal: reducing heat transfer in or out of your house. You’ll find a few different types of insulation available on the market, along with varying application methods. The correct kind of insulation your home needs depends on your house.
How Does It Work?
Insulation is a straightforward concept. It works by trapping little pockets of air to help prevent heat from escaping your home in the winter and coming into your house in the summer. The R-value is the number rating that lets a customer know how well a particular type of insulation does its job. The higher the number, the better. It also needs proper installation to ensure it works correctly. This explanation is why insulation helps reduce energy bills.
Do You Need New Insulation?
Most homes these days seem to lack adequate insulation. This statement is especially true if builders constructed your home before 1960. The best way to determine if your insulation is in good condition is to evaluate its type and thickness.
Look at unfinished ceilings and walls to see if they have insulation. Alternatively, remove an outlet cover and have a peek around the wall cavity. Make sure you turn off the electricity before you touch the outlet cover.
It’s also a good idea to pay attention to physical signs of improper insulation. Here are a few points to consider:
- Are utility bills exceptionally high when you’re heating or cooling your home?
- Does the temperature change from room to room?
- Are there drafts? These could be a sign of leakage. Pay particular attention to doors, windows, and the dryer vent.
- Do you have icicles hanging from your room in the winter?
One fantastic solution is to hire a professional home energy auditor to conduct a whole-house energy assessment.
Call Comfort 1st today if you need residential insulation services. We’ll get your home protected and warm for the winter months.
5 Benefits of Insulating Your Home Garage
Typically, the most significant reason that people insulate their home is for comfort. You may want to get more use out of your garage, but varying temperatures prevent you from enjoying it year-round. You can use a space heater during the winter, but the heat will escape without proper insulation. Luckily, we have five benefits of insulating your home garage, which you can explore below.
Useful Year-Round
Your garage typically keeps your vehicles safe from outside elements, but it has more potential than that. Today, you can find home gyms, project workshops, play areas, and more inside this space. Proper insulation and temperature control ensure you’ll enjoy your garage no matter the weather.
Reduced Transmission of Cold and Heat
Most homes have an attached garage equipped with weather-stripping and insulation. Unfortunately, that isn’t enough to prevent the cold and heat from escaping and entering your house every time you open and close the door. This act forces your air conditioning and heat to work harder to maintain the temperature. Insulating your garage will ensure your home won’t have to combat the cold and heat.
Shared Pipes and Ceilings
If you have a shared ceiling, laundry room, or pipes in your garage, heat and insulation are a must. Busted or frozen pipes are irritating, costly, and time-consuming. Not to mention the mess you’ll have to clean up or hire someone to clean.
You may even have a room above the garage that you’ll subject to extreme temperatures and the elements below if it’s not insulated correctly. You may have a challenging time maintaining comfortable temperatures without additional energy costs pilling up.
Reduced Noise Transmission
Do you live close to your neighbors? If you do, your late-night band practice or early morning time spent in the garage workshop could disturb and irritate them. Insulating the space will also prevent the echoes the garage creates from reverberating throughout the house.
Protect Personal Items
Many people use their garages to store items such as decorations, collectibles, and other personal belongings. Extreme temperatures and humidity can cause rust or other damages to these items.
Comfort First Insulation is home to insulation contractors in Rockford, Illinois, who are experts at keeping your home and family protected from the elements. Give them a call today to enjoy the benefits of insulating your home garage.
A Few Common Misconceptions About Air Sealing
Have you been wondering whether air sealing your home is worth adding to your list? Homeowners often overlook air sealing, but it can be one of the best decisions you’ll make regarding the comfort and efficiency of your house. We’re going to debunk some common misconceptions about air sealing to put you at ease.
What Is Air Sealing?
Air sealing is a process in which you hire a professional to discover all the gaps, crannies, nooks, and open seams of your house and seal them off. This process will help regulate the airflow in your home so that it feels less drafty in the winter and less stuffy in the summer. It will help make your house feel more comfortable by reducing the humidity, improving air quality, and cutting back on energy costs.
Air sealing has various benefits when performed by a professional. They will get into your house’s hard-to-reach places and perform highly technical and specialized work.
Common Misconceptions
You must add new insulation when air sealing your home.
False. You don’t have to add new insulation to your home when you have it air sealed. Maybe you recently had new insulation installed, or perhaps you have a new house, so your insulation doesn’t need to be touched.
However, there are many upsides to adding new insulation when having your house air sealed. If you choose not to install new insulation during this process, you potentially leave a job half done.
Air sealing can make your home too stuffy.
Air sealing does the complete opposite. It helps the home’s airflow by preventing heat and humidity from entering during the summer and freezing temperatures from permeating the space in the winter.
You should keep an eye out for a rare issue called over-tightening. This issue is usually only found in homes where the owners attempted to air seal the house themselves. Contractors are trained professionals and know what they’re doing, so you should always leave this task to them.
Air sealing causes moisture issues.
This misconception is not true, and the opposite is correct. Most harmful moisture comes from outside and gets trapped inside your house. The air sealing process will help resolve any moisture issues your home may have.
Improper air sealing can lead to ventilation and moisture issues, which is why it’s so important to work with air sealing contractors like Comfort 1st in Rockford, Illinois.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to work with a contractor you trust to air seal your home correctly. These common misconceptions about air sealing started because a worker didn’t do their job accurately.
Why Cellulose Insulation Is More Sustainable Than Alternatives
Homeowners understand the effects their choices make on the environment, and that’s why they’re turning to green options. Insulation plays a significant role in a home’s environmental impact, and it’s increasingly important to be knowledgeable on the subject because more and more companies are offering environmentally conscious insulation options. Let’s explore why cellulose insulation is more sustainable than the alternatives.
What Is Cellulose Insulation?
You can find cellulose insulation in both new and existing homes. This type of insulation is one of the oldest types. It can be blown or sprayed into open areas, and it conforms to the space in which it’s being installed. This conformity allows it to create a tougher barrier against drafts and heat loss. One great advantage of cellulose insulation is that you can install it over existing insulation.
Why Is It Environmentally Friendly?
You have to contemplate the energy that goes into producing the product because this also affects the environment. Cellulose insulation is made predominantly from recycled newspaper, and it has the most significant level of recycled matter in the building industry. Among leading insulation products, this type of insulation emits the lowest quantity of embodied energy, which measures a product’s negative effects on the environment.
Cellulose insulation is also regionally produced, which means shorter shipping distances and lower fuel emissions than other products on the marketplace.
Does It Reduce a Home’s Carbon Footprint?
More and more homeowners want to know about the different ways they can reduce their homes’ carbon footprints. Cellulose insulation lowers carbon emissions because it recycles paper waste, avoiding greenhouse gases created from the paper decaying in landfills. It also creates a barrier to keep the carbon produced in a home from escaping into the environment. Thus, it can reduce your house’s carbon footprint, making cellulose insulation more sustainable than alternatives.
Is It Efficient?
Insulation is measured by R-value, or resistance to heat. A higher number means more efficient insulation for your home and lower energy bills, and cellulose insulation typically has a higher average R-value than other types.
Give Comfort First Insulation in Rockford, IL, a call for all your residential insulation service needs.