Insulating Your Home for Year-Round Comfort

window installationWhen you think about your home’s insulation, you probably imagine snow drifts, the wind, and winter weather, but insulation is an essential tool for regulating the temperature of your home in every season.

In fact, poor insulation can not only cause problems in the winter when the heat inside your home escapes to the outside, but it can also cause issues in the summer when you run an air conditioner and need to keep your home cool.

Why is Insulation Important?

There are several reasons it’s important to have adequate insulation around your home. The biggest reason is the savings in heating and cooling costs for your family. However, good insulation also helps reduce the amount of energy you use, which lowers greenhouse gas emissions and is good for the planet.

In addition, insulation can help you feel more comfortable during times of extreme weather when it’s particularly hot or very cold outside. The blowing winds of a fierce winter can blow right through a drafty home, and the sweltering temperatures of a summer heat wave can make the inside of your home intolerable.

Properly insulated doors, walls, windows, and attic spaces will ensure your home is comfortable in any season, as well as a space that doesn’t use a tremendous amount of energy. It’s a much better investment of your money to properly insulate your home rather than pay lots of extra money for high heating and cooling costs.

Where is Home Insulation Important?

You’ve probably seen exposed walls in a newly built house with strips of insulation inside them, but your walls aren’t the only areas where insulation is important. A lot of heat transfer can occur in areas like your roof, as well as through gaps in your windows and doors.

Did you know? According to the Australian government, wall insulation can save 20% on heating and cooling costs, and an insulated ceiling can prevent up to 45% of energy loss through the roof.

Areas of your home that need to be maintained with good insulation and checked regularly for gaps and holes include:

  • Ceilings
  • Doors
  • Floors
  • Roofs
  • Walls
  • Water pipes
  • Windows

Although you’re obviously not going to install a traditional roll of insulation on your home’s windows, it’s still important to make sure there aren’t any gaps or leaks around the windows, because leaks could render useless the other areas of your home that have insulation (like the walls or ceiling).

Increasing the Efficiency of Windows to Help Insulate Your Home

Windows help bring light into your home and are excellent for creating beautiful views, but they can also become a source of heat loss in the winter or allow cooled air to escape in the summer. Old windows without special coatings may allow quite a bit of air transfer, which can all but nullify the efforts of your home’s insulation and the HVAC system.

The government’s Department of Energy shares:

“Adding storm windows can reduce air leakage and improve comfort. Caulking and weatherstripping can reduce air leakage around windows. Use caulk for stationary cracks, gaps, or joints less than one-quarter-inch wide, and weatherstripping for building components that move, such as doors and operable windows.”

There are some schools of thought that suggest window treatments are effective, too, at insulating the home, but they don’t have nearly the impact of new windows as far as reducing air leaks. Curtains can help reduce the heat in your home by keeping the rays of the sun out of the room, but they’re not a replacement for quality, energy efficient windows.

Experience Exceptional Window Installation from AHT Wisconsin Windows

Are you concerned about the insulation of your home? Are your old windows letting drafts into the house in the winter and allowing cool air to escape in the summer? Contact AHT Wisconsin Windows today for a Free No Obligation Quote or call 1-866-367-6560. Want more information before you choose your contractor? Download our FREE hiring guide for Wisconsin-area residents.