What is the best way to insulate your home? Here are different methods to choose from.
Not only that, making sure your home is as energy efficient as it can be means that you will greatly reduce your environmental impact. Your central heating won’t have to work as hard to keep your house warm and electric boilers don’t even have to directly burn anything to heat up the water, reducing your emissions even more. You could even choose to produce your own energy by installing a renewable energy source like solar panels or a wind turbine, thus eliminating the need to use the national grid which still utilises fossil fuel power stations.Although a drafty, poorly insulated house may have some obscure romantic appeal, for daily living those conditions are unacceptable.
Getting a good electric heating system in place not only keeps your home snug during the cold winter months, but it minimises your overall energy expenditure. Instead of huddling around inefficiently designed heaters in three layers of clothing, a well-designed electric heater provides a steady, powerful heat source that permeates each room. In combination with a well-insulated house, electric radiators cut costs and makes indoor living a pleasant, warm experience.
With that said, what are the best ways to insulate your home? There are four principal methods that will help keep energy from escaping: cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, double-glazing and cladding. Using all four methods in combination will ensure a fortified, energy-efficient home.
~ Cavity Wall Insulation
Homes build prior to the 1920’s tend to have what is called “cavity wall” construction. This means that the wall is made up of two principal layers that are separated by a gap. By filling this gap with insulating material, the house retains heat far more effectively.
~ Loft Insulation
Much as cavity wall insulation fills the gaps in vertical walls, loft insulation fills the gaps between wooden joists in the floor of lofts or attics with insulating material. Although few attics have a heating outlet, insulating the floor prevents energy from the rest of the house from escaping through the floor. If the loft has been converted into a frequently used area of the house, the sloping sides of the loft should also be insulated.
There are two major types of loft insulation:granular insulation, or blanket insulation. Blanket insulation is generally comprised of wool or a fiberglass-like material. There are several green substitutes for fiberglass, including material made from hemp, wood fibre, and recycled plastic bottles. Granular insulation is comprised of loose-fill materials that can be dumped in by hand or blown into place via machine. Recycled newspaper also can be used as a sustainable granular insulation.
~ Double Glazing Windows and Doors
Double-glazing is a process used on windows and glass doors. Two panes of glass are mounted a few millimeters apart, creating a pocket of air between them. This pocket is sealed with a drying agent, trapping the air inside. The trapped air acts as an insulator. If condensation should ever appear in the window, it indicates that the seal has been breached. This process can be an especially wonderful technique for doors, as it allows home owners to have an unobstructed view of the outdoors during all seasons while keeping them insulated.
~ Cladding
Cladding can encompass a variety of different materials. For insulation purposes, cladding is frequently used in combination with external wall insulation on roofs or the exterior walls of a house to help insulate them. External wall insulation consists of three primary parts: the insulation material, the elements used to affix that insulation to the wall, and the cladding material itself, which provides cover and an aesthetic finish. Those home owners who want to cut their energy bills while boosting their neighbourhood cache may want to investigate cladding more thoroughly.
~ General Insulation Tips
To ensure you get the most from your home insulation make sure windows and doors are fully closed when the electric heating is on as this will keep the warmth inside. By running the heater during the day, enough heat will build up to last throughout the night. Once you insulate your home, you will be surprised how much less it costs to keep it heated.
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